why would the Appeals Panel pay out when they can kick the can down the road off to the FSPO for a few more years and assist the Bank
Because you clearly have no idea what the role of the Appeals Panel is.
They are independent.
They have no interest in kicking the can down the road.
The bank wants these cases settled as quickly as possible.
You have a choice - you can go to the High Court or the Financial Ombudsman.
If you go to the High Court and win, you can recover your costs. If you go to the High Court and lose, the High Court could award AIB's costs against you. That seems fair enough to me.
Alternatively, you can go to the Ombudsman and both sides pay their own costs, irrespective of the outcome. That seems far more preferable.
In exceptional cases, I think that the Financial Ombudsman does make an award of some of the costs against the financial institution.
If you don't like the AIB's form, there really is no need to sign it to indicate your rejection. Go straight to the Ombudsman with your complaint.
Brendan