CREATING IRELAND’S ALTERNATIVE BANKING SYSTEM
Community-Public Banking Ireland –
Oct 2022 Plan:
Ireland Urgently Needs Safe, Solvent and Ethical ‘Not-for-private-profit’ Community-Public Banks to provide safety for Irish deposits, support for the Indigenous Economy, and banking facilities to everyone in the country.
As you are aware, Ireland has essentially a banking duopoly with two large international commercial banks holding the vast majority of deposits, accounts, mortgages and loans. This monopoly on lending is essentially control of the ‘credit of the nation’, i.e. they control who gets credit, the purpose for which it can be used and the price of that credit i.e., the interest rates charged. As the vast majority if this lending is for assets and asset speculation, it does not serve the productive economy.
This also contravenes the Constitution of Ireland wherein it states as follows:
“That in what pertains to the control of credit the constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people.”
Bunreacht na hÉireann Control of Credit: Article 45 2(iv),
Community-Public Banking System Behind German Economic Success:
Germany has c. 70% Public & Community Banks. The Sparkassen group comprise c. 42% of these, with the remaining c. 28% being Cooperative Banks. All of the Commercial Banks in Germany, including Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, have only 12.5 % of the market. Germany is the 4th largest economy in the world with exports similar in value to that of China, while having only 6% of China’s population.
Renowned International Banking Professor, Richard Werner, describes the current scenario very simply:
“Economic Growth and National Income are almost entirely determined by a factor that is decided at home (in Ireland), namely, the amount of bank credit created for productive purposes.”
Professor Richard Werner
Ireland needs,
1. Banks Providing Safety from bail-ins for Irish deposits.
2. Banks based on systems proven to work and create strong, high growth economies, e.g. Germany, Japan, Korea & China.
3. Banks offering Community Control of Credit (SME Focused Banks – SME’s provide 60 to 70% of all jobs)
4. Banks facilitating ‘Credit for Productive Purposes’, i.e. to create new jobs and services.
5. Banks that Do Not participate in Securitisation or Speculation, and do not pay Banker Bonuses.
6. Banks that counter the ‘Boom-Bust cycles’ created by speculative credit of commercial banks.
7. Banks that Retain ‘Physical Cash’ in society as the commercial banks and ECB now work to remove it.
8. Banks that remove ‘Control of the Credit of the Nation’ (i.e. the economy) from private Banks.
9. Banks that are Decentralised – Reverse the globalists trend of Centralisation.
We can have local jobs, rural and urban revival and development, with ethical Community-Public Banking.
No Government/State Support – The Project Must Proceed
As no Government/State support is forthcoming for the 2015 SBFIC – Sparkassen/PBFI proposal for eight to ten Regional Community-Public Banks, or for the PBFIs 2017 Preliminary Proposal ‘Creating Ireland’s Alternative Banking Force’, the PBFI together with ‘Local First Initiative’, a not-for-profit CLG and other groups, together with public support are proceeding with an initial modest proposal of two Regional Community-Public Banks and a Central Support Unit (CSU) for the 26 counties, as shown in the graphic above.
Local First Initiative is a not-for-profit CLG, setup to support community benefit projects.
Note: Northern Mutual an independent group in NI have begun a Community Banking project in the 6 counties.
The CSU will be required as more banks are added to the network later. A Comprehensive Nationwide Community-Public System is required; ideally a Community-Public bank in most every county, with smaller adjacent counties grouped to makeup the required population.
The graphic above shows the Three Regions.
Community Banking in Bavaria
Funding:
For a total Once-Off cost of c. €30M (c. €6 per man, woman and child in Ireland) we can have Two New Ethical, Solvent and Safe Regional Community-Public Banks.
Funding will be raised by the following methods,
- Membership fees & pledges (An Irish address, within the 26 counties is required).
- Crowd Funding.
- Donations.
- Grants.
- Funds from other fund raising initiatives.
A Comprehensive Regional Community-Public Banking system is needed in Ireland to drive our indigenous economy and rural revival and as a safe place for Irish deposits and savings.
Circa. €83k could be saved on every average mortgage in Ireland.
Sept 2022 Example.
Average House Price Ireland Mid 2022 €294k –
Mortgage: 90% LTV (Loan to Value) – Borrowing €265,917 – 30 Year term
Fixed for 10 Years
Interest Rate in Ireland 2.85%*
Total Interest Ireland €129,493*
Interest Rate in Germany 1.1%
Total interest Germany Community-Public Bank €46,213.
Saving in Germany of €83k over life of Mortgage.
*Best Rate Ireland Sept 2022 CCPC.ie; 2.85% (Initial interest rate) https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/money-tools/mortgage-comparisons/ Indicative APRC for full term not applied to either mortgage.
Circa. €83k COULD BE SAVED ON EVERY AVERAGE MORTGAGE IN IRELAND!
Banking Models like the 70% Community-Public Banking Model in Germany has enormous benefits for people, communities and the country in general.
It is ‘Banking in the Public Interest’
Previous proposals were dependent on State support – This is not forthcoming.
Some information on a previous proposal follows here.
The Public Banking Forum of Ireland (PBFI) launched the Public Banking project in 2013. PBFI Website:
The Concept Document:
A comprehensive Concept Document for the Irish Public Banking System has been produced by the German Public Savings Bank non profit Foundation the SBFIC. The SBFIC are currently assisting with 32 projects in 31 countries, worldwide.
The Workgroup:
Work on the Business Plan, Operational Plan and Legal Structure for the Irish Public Banking System will be completed when our fundraising target of €250,000 has been reached. This work will be done by a ‘Workgroup’ led by the SBFIC and made up of a team from the SBFIC, and interested Irish groups such as ISME, the PBFI and hopefully the Credit Unions with input from the Post Offices, Farm Organisations and others.
Support:
Three political parties, two political alliances and many independent candidates now support public banking. ISME, representing over 9,500 SME’s, the BRUI and the ISBA also support the project.
The Concept Document for Ireland’s Local Public System.
The DSGV-SBFIC Produced a Concept Document for a new Local Public Banking System tailored to the needs of the Irish economy and people. See the SBFIC page for more details.
1. Preliminary Remarks
The “German Savings Banks Association” (DSGV) and its not-for-profit consulting arm, the “Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation” (SBFIC), have been invited to develop a proposal to establish a new Local Public Banking System tailored to the needs of the Irish economy and people.
In 2014 representatives of SBFIC met with the “Public Banking Forum of Ireland” (PBFI). Various meetings with government representatives, politicians and Irish business associations followed and a feasibility study was carried out by SBFIC mid 2014.
The present document sketches a proposal to establish a Local Public Banking System which will help to fill supply gaps, which apparently limit the access to financial services in Ireland. An improved access to finance will be vital for a continuous economic recovery and development – especially for the local Irish SME sector and the local population.
The Choice we have:
- We can follow current government policy and continue to restore the 3 bailed-out too-big-to-fail commercial banks, keeping the failed oligopoly going. (AIB; 99% state owned, on life-support & owes us what..€20.8bn? The BoI essentially told government to butt out. So they may, ‘they’re a private entity’) or
- We can, for a total of €140m over a five-year period, establish 10 safe, solvent and ethical Regional Public Banks with the explicit purpose of serving local businesses, communities, and households. The Credit Unions and Post Offices can play a key role in providing the Community Banking System we need. The Credit Unions need to look at radical survival options as their future is under serious threat.
The Proposal for Ireland:
The Proposal is to setup 10 Regional Public Banks in the 26 Counties and a Central Service Provider (CSP) for the banks. The CSP will be setup first, it will provide all IT, MIT, Product Design, Auditing Services etc. for the banks.
The plan is to initially setup the CSP and two or four pilot Regional Public Banks which will be used to refine and perfect the business model. The remaining banks will be established over the following years.
The Post Office Network:
Hundreds of Post Offices are under threat of being closed very soon if some drastic measures are not taken. An Post has demonstrated its commitment to getting involved in full-service community banking so the infrastructure and expertise are readily available. We believe An Post needs to pursue a model similar to the KiwiBank (Post Office Banking), established in New Zealand in 2002, and now phenomenally successful.
The Post Office Network could also serve as service outlets for the Regional Public Banks.
A Regional Public Banking System for Ireland
It really is time to repair Ireland’s blighted banking landscape with a
dedicated network of Regional Public Banks.
