Bank of Ireland has confirmed that a number of its ATMs serviced by Brinks Allied will run out of cash tonight ahead of the bank holiday weekend due to a dispute with the security firm.
Brinks Allied this week ceased to service the bank over failure to reach a solution on liability for losses in cases of theft.
The move follows the recent spate of armed robberies on security vans.
A bank spokeswoman said that some of the 89 ATMs in Dublin, Cork and Waterford are still operational, but that many would run out of cash later this evening.
The dispute will come before the High Court tomorrow when the bank will seek an order stopping Brinks reneging on what the bank claims are contractual obligations.
Counsel for the bank today claimed that Brinks Allied in Ireland received a direction from its US parent company to break its contract, unless the bank was prepared to carry up to 88% of the loss in the event of money going missing.
Alex Owens claimed the issue was not a security concern but rather a head office direction.
Mr Owens said that Brinks transports money between the central depository and BoI branches, and the bank supplies cash to Permanent TSB.
He claimed that for the last few days, because of this dispute, some city branches had too much cash in-house, posing a security risk.
