World-first standards-based Skills Framework to future-proof talent in retail banking launched

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD joined IOB today to launch the first phase of the Irish Financial Services Skills Framework – a world-first standards-based model designed to equip Ireland’s retail banking workforce with critical knowledge about the skills needed for the future of the sector.

The launch event featured a panel discussion with CEOs and senior leaders from Ireland’s leading retail banks, underlining the industry’s shared commitment to skills-led transformation. Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a broader rollout of the Irish Financial Services Skills Framework.

Eamonn Crowley, CEO, PTSB, Susan Russell, CEO Retail Ireland division, Bank of Ireland, Colin Hunt, CEO, AIB & Mary O’Dea, CEO, IOB, pictured (l-r) at the launch of the Irish Financial Services Skills Framework.

The Framework breaks down the skills essential to the financial service industry. It provides a comprehensive system to track and benchmark current and emerging skills, a critical support as financial institutions respond to digital transformation, regulatory change and shifting customer expectations.

Additionally, the Framework identifies specific technical and professional skills, maps them across four levels of proficiency, and links each to validated education and training programmes. It enables banks to align workforce capabilities with evolving business models, it supports strategic workforce planning, and opens new pathways for career mobility and inclusive recruitment.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, said: “In the establishment of the Irish Financial Services Skills Framework, we are empowering our current and future financial services workforce to understand how they may deepen their expertise and- critically- how they may apply this expertise to a range of different roles. This cultivation of flexible talent will support us in maintaining a highly competitive and agile financial services sector workforce.”

Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, pictured at the launch of the Irish Financial Services Skills Framework.

Also commenting at the launch, Mary O’Dea, CEO of IOB, added: “This is a pivotal moment for Irish banking. The Skills Framework will help ensure that the sector remains resilient, adaptive and internationally competitive. It gives professionals a clear, accessible roadmap for skills development and enables the industry to make skills-based hiring and investment decisions. We’re proud to have worked closely with the sector to deliver a solution that supports sustainable growth, innovation, and inclusion.”

By placing skills at the centre of workforce strategy, the Framework addresses a challenge facing financial sectors globally – how to future-proof people in the face of rapid change.

The overall Irish Financial Services Skills Framework is an initiative of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) which advises the Irish Government on the current and future skills needs of the economy. The genesis of the Retail Banking segment arose from recommendations of the Retail Banking Report, following the initiation of the Retail Banking Review, by Minister Paschal Donohoe in 2021.

Led by IOB, a recognised college of University College Dublin (UCD) and a centre of excellence in the provision of specialist education to the financial services industry, the Framework has been developed in collaboration with industry partners, including retail banks, representative bodies, government departments, state agencies and higher education and training bodies.

Find out more about the Irish Financial Services Skills Framework at skillsframework.ie.