Courses cost State €1.7m

Fees for courses on corporate white-collar crime, money-laundering, and Islamic finance were part of a €475,056 bill to the State for Central Bank employees who took courses last year.

Figures provided by the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, confirm a €1.7m bill to the State for officials at the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the Revenue Commissioners who took courses and training last year.

The figures show that, out of the 172 taking courses funded by the Central Bank, only one was seeking a qualification in corporate white-collar crime and only one other was sitting a money-laundering course.