Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has asked Mary Coughlan if her department had any meetings or knowledge in advance of the closure and redundancies at Bank of Scotland Ireland.
The Tánaiste and Minister of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, said the bank had been in discussions with Department of Finance for some time.
However, the BOSI decided it was no longer in a position to continue to trade in Ireland as Halifax.
Speaking in the Dáil, she said the bank had given the Government official notification of its intention to close its retail operations.
Ms Coughlan said she has received assurances that consumers affected will be fully informed of how they stand by the bank.
She said the bank would continue to communicate with mortgage holders via its customer care and support department.
The Tánaiste said she was assured all mortgage holders and other customers would be contacted by the bank.
Ms Coughlan said the customer service department will remain in operation and continue to deal with customer enquiries.
Bank of Scotland Ireland announced on Tuesday that it would be closing its 44 Haifax branches here with the loss of 750 jobs.
Burton labels Govt 'rudderless'
Meanwhile, Labour's Joan Burton has accused the Government of being 'aimless and rudderless' in dealing with the issue of employment and other difficulties in the banking sector.
Deputy Burton said the Finance Minister Brian Lenihan's decision to devolve the management of NAMA and bank restructuring to the National Treasury Management Agency begged the question as to who was in charge when thousands of jobs are at risk in the banking sector.
Ms Coughlan said political responsibility for the sector remained with Mr Lenihan.
She said the financial services sector was of major importance to the Government.
