ISO 22301 certification in Ireland

ISO 22301 certification in Ireland at a glance

Financial firms in Ireland have a clear regulatory reason to think about continuity. The Central Bank's Cross Industry Guidance on Operational Resilience, published in December 2021 and republished in July 2025, tells boards to prepare for, respond to and recover from disruption to critical or important business services, and DORA now supplies the minimum digital resilience standard. Neither names ISO 22301, and the National Cyber Security Bill that will transpose NIS2 is not yet published. The standard is therefore a voluntary framework that gives continuity work structure: business impact analysis, strategies, plans and exercises, audited by a certification body that INAB or another recognised accreditation body has accredited. Sterling's London office supports Irish organisations from impact analysis to exercise and management review, with Effivity and Sterling Academy included in the engagement.

Who needs ISO 22301 in Ireland, and what happens without it

In Ireland the question rarely comes from a law. It comes from the buyer, the regulator or the partner that wants proof before it signs. These are the organisations that get asked.

• Banks, insurers and investment firmsThe Central Bank expects boards to manage operational resilience and the ability to recover critical or important business services.
• ICT and cloud suppliers to financial entitiesDORA places resilience and third-party duties on financial entities, which they reflect in supplier requirements.
• Organisations expecting NIS2 dutiesBusiness continuity is among the areas an incident-ready security programme covers; the Irish law is still pending.
• Data centre and managed-service operatorsCustomers examine recovery arrangements for the services they rely on.
• Fund administrators and outsourced finance providersClients expect recovery of critical processes after a disruption.

ISO 22301 requirements in Ireland

Strip away the vocabulary and ISO 22301 requires a company to prove six things about how it keeps operating when something goes wrong.

In Ireland these six sit alongside the local laws and regulations listed under drivers below; one system can evidence both. The detail is on the global hub: ISO 22301 explained →

• ISO 22301 requirements, clause by clause in plain language
• The documents ISO 22301 expects

How to get ISO 22301 certified in Ireland

One team from the London office carries the work from scoping to certificate. Clients in Ireland are served from Sterling's London office, on-site where the work needs it and remotely otherwise.

1. Discovery call and scopeEntities, locations, regulators and target date, agreed before any proposal.
2. Gap assessment against ISO 22301 and the Irish requirements that apply to youControls you already run for your regulators and customers are reused, not rebuilt.
3. Your system built with your team in EffivityRisks, controls, evidence, incidents and reviews in one live system the auditor can see.
4. Internal audit, management review and corrective actionsYour internal auditors trained by Sterling; the evidence proven before the certification body arrives.
5. Certification body stage 1 and stage 2, then surveillanceAn accredited body audits and decides. Sterling supports the audits and the three-year cycle.

The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements.Sterling does not certify. Certification decisions stay with independent bodies.

• The ISO 22301 certification process, step by step
• ISO 22301 internal audit

How long does ISO 22301 certification take in Ireland?

There is no standard duration: it depends on your scope and on how much of the system already runs. In Ireland these are the factors that set the timeline.

• Number of critical services and sites in scope
• Completeness of business impact analysis
• Exercise and testing history
• Dependence on outsourced and cloud services

Sterling agrees a dated plan with you on the discovery call, once the scope is known.

• Scope and timeline estimator

How much does ISO 22301 certification cost in Ireland?

The cost has two parts: the consulting work to build and prove the system, and the certification body’s audit fees, which are quoted separately. In Ireland these factors move both.

• Size of the organisation and number of sites
• Recovery strategies and tooling required
• Certification body audit fees quoted separately from consulting
• Integration with ISO/IEC 27001 and DORA work

Sterling gives one customised, all-inclusive proposal after the discovery call, never before the scope is agreed.

• What makes up the cost of ISO 22301

ISO 22301 consultants and certification bodies in Ireland

Two different organisations are involved. A consultant helps you build the system and prove it works; an accredited certification body then audits or assesses it and decides. Keeping the two separate is what makes the result credible to buyers and regulators.

• Check that the body’s accreditation or approval covers ISO 22301 and your sector, and that its certificates can be verified online.
• Ask the consultant how the local requirements in Ireland are mapped into the same system, so nothing runs twice.
• Ask for client references in your sector; Sterling’s client letters are available on request.
• Agree who owns the evidence and the tool after the engagement; with Sterling the system stays yours, in Effivity.

ISO 22301 in Ireland: questions clients ask

More on ISO 22301 for Irish organisations

• ISO 22301: the complete guide
• Watch: How to implement ISO 22301
• ISO 22301 certification in Ireland and every other standard Sterling delivers there

Other standards Irish businesses ask Sterling for

Organisations in Ireland often combine ISO 22301 with one of these, under one management system where the scopes allow.

All 22 standards Sterling delivers in Ireland →