Polski speakers please

A Polish advertisement for Allied Irish Banks on a telephone box in the upmarket Dublin neighbourhood of Donnybrook says a lot about the changing face of banking in Ireland.

The country's largest group of immigrants are not just here to work, they are one of the fastest-growing target customers for Irish banks. It's not entirely surprising therefore that demand for Polish speaking staff at bank counters and customer service centres is set to soar.

Poland joined the European Union in May 2004, and there are now some 160,000 Poles living and working in Ireland. More than 87,000 of them registered to work or access public services here last year, according to figures released last week by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

The influx of Poles has already helped ease the shortage of candidates in Ireland's financial services sector, a trend that is set to continue in the months ahead.

"Most of the foreign applications we get are from Polish people," said Jennifer Ward, executive consultant at Sigmar Recruitment, which runs two offices in Poland. "There will be a need for Polish support in different banks, especially in administration and customer service, though there's not a huge effect at the moment."

In the last year, banks including Allied Irish Banks and Permanent TSB have published Polish guides to their key banking products on their websites and in their branches. Bank of Ireland launched a new Polish language telephone helpdesk and Permanent TSB began a recruitment drive for Polish speakers to operate its 'Open 24' call centres to assist online and telephone banking customers in their home language. Those who know their bankowy from their kupacy are in luck.