Ulster Bank and the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) will today present submissions to an independent tribunal in an effort to resolve a bitter dispute over job and pay cuts at the bank.

Mr Ray Magee, the director of conciliation at the Labour Relations Commission, will hear what are expected to be lengthy submissions from both sides and will then take some time to consider their contents and issue a recommendation.

Senator Joe O'Toole, vice-president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, will represent the IBOA at the tribunal. Ulster Bank will also have a representative to put its case for implementing a rationalisation plan to the tribunal.

The bank's restructuring plan could lead to between 200 and 500 job losses from its 4,500 staff in Ireland. Ulster Bank is also seeking pay cuts of as much as 30 per cent for certain employees.

The proposals aim to bring the structures in Ulster Bank in line with its new parent, Royal Bank of Scotland. Many of the changes the bank is now seeking were identified by Ulster Bank management when National Westminster Bank signalled its intention to sell the bank to fund its defence of an unsuccessful hostile bid from Bank of Scotland.

Staff represented by the IBOA in the North have already made their submission to a tribunal which is headed by Mr Liam Deane, a former member of the Labour Relations Agency. That tribunal is due to reconvene to consider the content of those submissions at the end of the week and a recommendation could be issued as early as next Monday.

Bank staff North and South have balloted to take industrial action if the bank seeks to implement the plan ahead of a ruling by the tribunal.

It is possible that different recommendations will emerge, mainly due to the existence of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) in the Republic. The IBOA will claim the bank's proposals are in breach of this agreement. The PPF does not apply however in Northern Ireland and this may influence the tribunal outcome.