There is no shortage of compliance training courses on the market. What there is a shortage of is training that's actually built for Irish law, survives a Central Bank inspection, and doesn't feel like a tax on your team's billable hours.
This is the checklist we recommend to every Irish firm evaluating a compliance training course in 2026. Print it, take it into your next vendor call, and don't sign anything until you can tick all ten boxes.
1. Is the content Irish-first, or just Irish-flavoured?
Dozens of compliance training courses sold in Ireland are lightly edited UK or US content. You'll spot them quickly: references to the MLR 2017, Bank Secrecy Act, or "FCA expectations." Your programme has to cite the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 as amended, the Central Bank of Ireland, the CRO AMLCU, and FIU Ireland — not "your local regulator."
2. Is there a randomised end-of-module exam?
Attendance sheets and static quizzes are no longer enough. Irish auditors increasingly look for assessment integrity — evidence that a learner actually demonstrated understanding, not just pressed "next." A randomised question bank of 150+ items with timed questions is the current audit-ready standard.
3. Are certificates CPD-eligible?
Certificates that don't carry CPD hours from CPA, ACCA, Chartered Accountants Ireland, LIA or the Law Society aren't useless, but they force your team to do double work. Look for a course that produces a certificate accepted by your professional body out of the box.
4. Is it genuinely short?
The best compliance training course in the world is worthless if your team never finishes it. A 40-minute module, broken into five-minute segments, completes at 90%+ rates. A three-hour monolith completes at 40%. Be honest about what your people will actually sit through.
5. Does it generate audit-ready reporting?
Ask for a sample MLRO dashboard export. It should show every learner, every module, every completion date, every exam score, and every version of content they took. If the vendor can't produce that export on a demo call, they can't produce it on inspection day either.
6. Is there version control on content?
Irish AML content changes. When it changes, your training file needs to show which version each learner took. A serious provider will version modules, retain old versions, and let you see who took what, when.
7. Can the MLRO sign off in one click?
Compliance teams lose huge amounts of time chasing completions. A good platform sends automated reminders, flags overdue learners to the MLRO, and produces a sign-off pack without manual assembly.
8. Is it sector-specific?
A generic "financial services" compliance training course does not meet the Central Bank's sectoral AML guidelines expectations. You need content tailored to accountancy practice, insurance broking, estate agency, or wealth management. If the vendor only offers one "core" AML course, walk away.
9. How is it kept current?
Ireland gets a CJA amendment, a Central Bank letter, or an FIU typology update several times a year. Ask how often content is reviewed. "Annually" is not enough. "Quarterly, plus immediate updates on material law changes" is the 2026 standard.
10. Will the vendor survive an inspection with you?
Ask, bluntly, whether the vendor will attend an inspection alongside you if asked, and explain the content design. Serious Irish vendors will. Generic global platforms won't.
The single best question
"Can you show me the exact slide where you cite the Section of the Criminal Justice Act this training satisfies?" If the vendor can, you're probably in safe hands. If they can't, you're buying generic content.
How Harrington Compliance measures up
Our compliance training courses are built in Ireland, for Ireland. Every module cites the CJA Section it satisfies, every exam is randomised, every certificate is CPD-eligible, and the MLRO dashboard generates an audit-ready pack in one click.
We'd rather you take this checklist to any vendor than buy blind. But if you'd like to see what a purpose-built Irish course looks like, book a 15-minute demo and we'll walk you through it.