This is the big week for AIB staff in Ireland

The time has come. After announcing 2,500 (voluntary) redundancies earlier this year, half of which are to fall in 2012 and half of which are to fall in 2013, and threatening to reduce pay for those who don't go quietly by 10%, AIB is set to announce its finalised terms this week.

The Independent reports that talks with Unions are finally at an end after John Conway, AIB's HR director sent an email to staff on Friday evening saying the consultation process between AIB and the union IBOA had finished. Conway said the full recommendations will be communicated to staff later this week.

The bank hopes to achieve the cuts through voluntary redundancies as it tries to "right size" itself following the banking crisis.

There is, as yet, no indication of what those terms will be. Last month it was suggested that AIB staff would be offered just three weeks' redundancy pay for each year of service, which wasn't great given that it was allegedly paying 8 weeks in June 2011. The Unite Union has already objected to AIB's alleged plans to introduce abnormally low redundancy payments. Earlier, AIB and IBOA were said to have been disputing the bank's plans for voluntary severance and early retirement, the restructuring plans and the terms and conditions of employment of the employees who remain.