Nestled among its target audience in the IFSC lies the Institute of Bankers (IoB), the professional body tasked with educating bankers and those working in the financial services sector.
Since taking the helm in 1999, IoB chief executive Dr Anthony Walsh has increased student numbers by roughly 20 per cent per year up to the current level of 6,000, and has increased the institute's portfolio of courses from five to 30.
But the former dean of DCU Business School is not one to rest on his laurels, as the institute's latest coup - a strategic alliance with UCD - demonstrates.
As part of this alliance, the IoB will establish a new School of Professional Finance, which will be the first external school to be recognised by UCD.
Dr Walsh explains what this will mean for the institute's members: "The importance of this new development is that it will allow us to broaden and deepen the range of our courses," he says. Currently the institute's courses range from certificates right up to Master's degrees, in areas stretching right across the financial services sector.
The most popular course is the Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) diploma, which prepares people to provide advice to consumers on retail commercial products such as mortgages, pensions, life insurance and so on. The IoB's courses will now be transferred to the new School of Professional Finance.
"We will be able to offer a much wider range of Master's courses and they will be accredited through UCD and will be subject to UCD's quality assurance processes," says Dr Walsh.
"There will be much closer co-operation, both in terms of teaching and research, so we will get involved for the first time in financial services research. That will enrich the curriculum."
Dr Walsh stresses the importance of this joint initiative at a time when the financial services sector is playing such a vital role in the Irish economy.
"It's a key aim of Government to move elements of the financial services up the value chain to get more high-value-added jobs here," says Dr Walsh. "Key to that is education and expertise and that's why by being able to combine the professional knowledge of the institute and the academic knowledge of UCD, we will continue to be able to give our members and our students a world-class education in financial services and that will become a magnet for financial services companies coming to Ireland."
Dr Walsh predicts that the venture with UCD will also help the indigenous sector, and hopes that it will provide the knowledge base necessary to fuel new, small start-up companies.
The background to this move dates back to 1990, when the IoB and UCD created a Bachelor's degree in Financial Services (BFS) with around 100 students passing through each year. "I think what we both identified was that financial services is at a critical stage of development and to move up the value chain it needs a broader range of expertise and both the university and ourselves were keen to be involved in providing that," says Dr Walsh.
"It's very good for both institutions in that it draws UCD closer to the industry," he says. "Hopefully we'll be a conduit for more research projects in financial services for them. I think it is very much mutually beneficial."
In the longer term, the IoB hopes that the new school will become a hub for financial services education in Europe by attracting people from abroad and also offering courses internationally through e-learning.
"What the School of Professional Finance will be is the financial services industry's university. I think we've created the foundation for that," says Dr Walsh. He predicts that the school will prove to be "world class" and will create "the strategic advantage that the industry needs to continue to grow".
Dr Walsh is emphatic that this initiative will be of benefit not only to employees in banking and financial services, but ultimately will be passed on to the consumer.
"Nothing is more important to the future of any organisation than that they give good advice to their customers and ultimately that's what our courses are preparing people to do."
