150 Barclays Bank jobs must be viewed as just the beginning – Richmond

Fine Gael Dublin Rathdown Senator and Government spokesman on EU Affairs in the Seanad, Neale Richmond, today (Thursday) welcomed reports by Bloomberg that Barclays Bank is to hire 150 staff in their Dublin offices, saying this must be just the beginning in terms of attracting jobs to Ireland in order to offset the overall negatives of Brexit.

“I welcome the news that Barclays Bank has selected Dublin as its main hub within the European Union. I have been consistent in my comments post-Brexit that in order to reap the most benefit out of the fallout from the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, we must put in place structures to attract quality high value employment from British based employers, especially their financial services.

“These 150 high end financial service roles must be viewed as just the beginning in our Brexit Fightback. Through our infrastructure and regulatory environment, we must position Dublin, and Ireland generally, as a prime location for high value employment and as a European hub for those wishing to relocate from the UK.

“This week in the Seanad I raised the relocation process for the European Medicines Agency and its 600 positions with Minister Harris, and I believe we are taking the right steps in making the best out of the turbulence caused by Brexit. I am confident we can achieve considerable success but we not cannot be complacent or presume we are a natural choice to secure these companies and their significant investments.”