JOHN F HIGGINS,  INDEPENDENT EURO ELECTION CANDIDATE 2009,  NORTH WEST

IRISH MEPS PROMOTED LAWS THAT ALLOWED THE RIP-OFF OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN

 

Bottom line: The young people of Ireland have been grossly exploited by International Financial Buccaneers (IFB). The first line of defense, our Members of the European Parliament (MEP) have consistently scored remarkable own goals by making the playing field and related rules highly biased in favour of the Banking fraternity.

Our society has changed utterly from a defensive minded religious society to an attacking aggressive secular society over the past thirty years. However in doing so, we left the rear exposed and the International Financial Buccaneers (the percentage guys) got in behind by stealth and totally exposed our defensive qualities. Our young men and women are now so laden with Debt that we now will have four divisions to climb to get back into the Premier Division. This was done and promoted by our own Irish MEPs and TDs, all to increase employment in the IFSC and have a level playing pitch for the Bankers. Mortgaged Asset Covered Legislation introduced in  Brussels and Dublin made this great rip-off legal!

The Irish Mortgage Lenders have borrowed at least €60,000,000,000 (60billion) from International Pension and Hedge Funds, mostly from ageing Europe. It was this huge marginal borrowing that very quickly inflated a very wobbly House Price balloon. House prices rose to 3 or 4 times their 1996 values.

Our young borrowers are now in Negative Equity (Mortgage loan is greater than the house valuation). House prices have fallen by over 50% since the helicon days of 2005-07 and will fall much more, because of increased taxation and unemployment. It is highly probable that the houses bought with mortgages are now valued at over €60 billion less, because of the deflating of the housing balloon. It is as if we made a huge bonfire of €60,000,0000,000 in €500 notes, and set fire to it. 

Our youth have to pay it back, over the next 20 years at c.€4,000,000,000 (4 billion) per year. What is the significance of this: The same result could happen if we had lost a war and we were made pay reparation damage. Average Rates leveled on each of our 547,000 houses (tsb/ESRI) would be €7,312 to raise the same amount annually.Under a Rates System, this money would be ploughed back into services e.g. Health, Education, Gardai, running County and City Councils etc.

As it is: this money is generated or earned in each locality, then leaves that locality for ever, never to be reinvested in Ireland. The annual Euro losses for each county in the North West Constituency is:
Clare                                                          106m
 Galway                                                           220m
 Leitrim                                                         27m
Mayo                                                         117m
 Roscommon                                                     55m
 Sligo                                                            57m
Cavan                                                          60m
 Donegal                                                         140m
 Monaghan                                                   53m
Longford                                                      33m
 Westmeath                                                      76m

The International Financial Buccaneers worked on a percentage basis. They convinced the politicians, bankers, developers that the good times were to continue. House, apartment, commercial building continued apace; and then the forgotten people, ignored by our MEPs in this big property balloon decided that they could take no more. The young men and women stopped buying! Developers are unable to pay off loans on another €90,000,000,000 (90 billion). I say that another €60,000,000,000 of this is toxic; yes we will have to pay it via the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). That’s another €4,000,000,000 a year!

“Do the government not realise the gravity of the international situation now facing us? We will be caught in the dangerous eddy as the great Western Economies go into rapid decline, caused by the hidden power of demographics and not any highly visible terrorist deed. The hole that Leinster House is digging is getting deeper and the further down they go, the less opportunity for movement. A former leader had much firmer foundations to stand on, when he resisted international pressure. Leinster House now, more than ever for the sake of our future, our young workforce, badly needs a stabilising influence.” From Editorial Mayo Association Yearbook 2002. Editor – John F Higgins.

Can the shareholders of the Ireland FC afford to hold on to their current failed directors? It is time to vote in a person of integrity and vision, and someone who is not afraid to stand up and oppose the popular view and propose what is right for the community, country and Europe.  The aging EU is  a disaster , especially  when those representing us are not on the boil, can be fooled and not stand up for the youngest population in the EU. EUROPE  MORE THAN EVER BEFORE NEEDS PEOPLE WITH VISION.

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The European Commission’s Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) Original restrictions. The following restictions did not suit the Irish  Mortgage Financiers. <> 

“• less ability to incorporate a broad range of international (non-EU) assets in a pool, favouring markets which have a large availability of domestic assets; <> 

• lower limits applying to the substitution of assets within a pool, thereby reducing operational flexibility. Assets need to be replaced from time to time as the loans are repaid. <> 

• stricter rules on the valuation levels applying to residential mortgages whereby only loans of a lower loan-to-value (LTV) level could be included in the pool of assets..” <> 

To influence the European agenda, it is important to have a European position. In Ireland a national position was developed through dialogue between the industry, the Department of Finance and the Financial Regulator.

The outcome ultimately proved positive, persuading the Commission  and the Council that the restrictive measures were unnecessary. The Council agreement negotiated under the Luxembourg Presidency at the end of June 2005 represented a good outcome.

The consideration by Parliament proved to be equally challenging, as new proposals surfaced including one to remove the full eligibility of EU assets. EU Member States are governed by common treaty and rules on financial stability and it is accepted that EU assets carry less risk than non-EU assets.

Further restrictions to international asset eligibility were proposed along with other measures that would have impacted negatively on the ability of Ireland and others to compete successfully in the European marketplace.

Within the European Parliament, both Gay Mitchell TD, MEP and Eoin Ryan TD, MEP used their positions as members of the European Committee on Economic Affairs (ECON) to alter the course of the debate and restore the key measures required by Ireland, Luxembourg, France, UK and others. Gay Mitchell led the campaign within the EPP political grouping, the largest in Parliament, to win the support of members for the Irish position. The debate ultimately went to the day of the final ECON committee vote in July with an oral amendment tabled during the vote by Gay Mitchell to secure the eligibility of international assets. <> 

The outcome was the adoption by Parliament of the more progressive approach that had been widely favoured.

http://www.ibf.ie/pdfs/aboutbanking_i2.pdf

With so many people canvassing for the Banks, is it any wonder the Irish Working Youth ended up with massive Debt and that the Irish Taxpayer is to be crucified. The Irish MEPs actually got clauses reversed which would entail lower loan to value restrictions lifted. There was not a word about the hardship that related international purchase of mortgages would inflict by inflating the value of house prices. It would be important that the Irish elect an MEP who understands the whole picture, is nearer in spirit to the needs of young people and has vision.  JFH

What has happened since? Right under our Euro Politicians (MEPs) noses

Marginal €60billion investment in the Securitisation (International Financial Buccaneers IFB encouraged panic investment from the aging mainland Europe) of Irish Retail Mortgages from a total €120 billion outstanding (balance on Irish |Banks books) that exploited the young Irish boys and girls of working age. Similar investments were made in American Sub-Prime with commissions of billions of euro going to the IFB; EU Hedge Funds and Pension Funds lost tens of billions of dollars. This hefty marginal securitisation shoved up the price of houses in Ireland and led to the present crash and depression.

The unrestrained stupid foreign investment in houses on mainland Europe that would only depreciate because of th falling birth rate.

The lure of further loot from Securitisation of the mortgages of our abled-bodied young, jump-started our bankers, developers into a house building frenzy resulting in the €90billion bad loans which we the people have to take over, via the National Asset Management Agency NAMA!
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