Ireland’s financial sector is still in the midst of a jobs crisis, which could eventually see the loss of 10,000 positions, according to the country’s finance union.

The headline figure from the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) could, of course, create panic among Ireland’s financial services employees, but the majority of these roles may have already been lost.

However, Bank of Scotland (Ireland)’s decision to axe 750 jobs last week, and the 150 redundancies at RBS in January show that – in spite of more positive sentiment recently – the financial sector is not entirely out of the woods yet.

Here’s why the IBOA’s general secretary Larry Broderick believes more jobs cuts are coming:

“Simply as a result of non-replacement of staff and the non-renewal of temporary contracts over the last sixteen months, we estimate that at least 4,000 jobs have been lost in financial services in Ireland. Add to that the 1,000 redundancies announced in Ulster Bank last year, the 150 job losses announced in National Irish Bank just before Christmas and the further 750 redundancies sought by Halifax this week, we are looking at around 6,000 job losses. Of course, that’s before the restructuring and consolidation of the Irish institutions which is expected to take place over the coming months in tandem with the transfer of toxic assets to NAMA.

“Last year, I warned that up to 10,000 jobs could be at risk in the Irish financial services sector as a result of the current crisis. I have seen no evidence in the meantime to suggest that this estimate is unrealistic.”