Hoiwever, the Bank's statement in response to the Labour Court recommendation goes on to say that 'on completion of this further process, the Bank will consider the recommendation to offer individual staff members, recruited since 1st October 2006, the once-off option to join a previous scheme.'
This appears to reject the recommendation by Labour Court Chairman Kevin Duffy that until the row over the pension change is resolved, all staff hired since 1 October should be given a once-off option to join the original scheme.
Unions at Bank of Ireland had welcomed the Labour Court recommendation.
It recommended that management and both unions should enter into an intense talks process at the Labour Relations Commission lasting no longer than three months.
After those talks, the court would arrange an early hearing to deal with any outstanding issues.
The Irish Bank Officials Association General Secretary, Larry Broderick, said the IBOA particularly welcomed the Labour Court's view that existing agreements must be honoured by the bank prior to change taking place.
He said the IBOA was prepared to enter talks on the pensions issue in line with the recommendations.
The Amicus Trade Union's National Officer, Jerry Shanahan, said members would feel that their decision to take strike action has been vindicated.
He said the most important thing was that staff who had been excluded through no fault of their own since 1 October would now be able to join the scheme.
Dispute with unions
The bank has been in dispute with both unions over its decision to replace its defined benefit pension scheme with a new mixed scheme that unions have described as 'inferior'.
BoI had argued that it could no longer afford to underwrite the long-term pension liability of its existing scheme because of lower bond yields, lower mortality and new accounting standards.
However, unions contended that the bank could afford to continue the existing scheme, particularly as it had delivered profits of €887 million in its last six-monthly accounts.
It also accused BoI of ignoring agreed procedures and failing to consult with unions prior to implementing its decision.
In the recommendation issued this morning, the Labour Court chairman said that the original pension arrangements had clearly become an established condition of employment.
In an apparent criticism of the bank, the court said that agreed procedures were not fully utilised in this case.
Mr Duffy said that while he had not attempted to engage in a detailed evaluation of the assumptions underlying the new pension proposals, it was clear that the new scheme at least partly transfers the financial risk inherent in any pension scheme from the employer to the employee.
