THE DIRTY DOZEN w/e Dec 9th 2012

Budget week and if you really want to know the absolute injustice of what's happening to the people of this country,  read Stephen Donnelly and Gene Kerrigan this week, far more eloquent than I.

The next bond due for payment is this Tue Dec 4th, a subordinated bond from Irish Life & Permanent, €10,000,000; after that, a series of six unsecured unguaranteed bonds on Dec 17th totalling €63,000,000, before rounding off the year - fittingly - with yet another unsecured unguaranteed bond of €37,259,146 on Dec 28th. NONE of these fall under the bank guarantee scheme but no matter, all will be paid.

That Dec 28th bond payment is the last of the €20bn+ that will be sucked from our banks this year, all of which we own bar Bank of Ireland and we have a sizable stake in that (15.1%). Only another €17bn then next year, 2013, and sure that's the back broken on dem pesky bank bonds; our backs broken also but who gives a damn about that?

By the way, all these totals in here do NOT include the 'coupon' or interest paid on those bonds but if you take an average of even 2%, then on the €35bn due over the next three years in bonds, our banks will be paying interest of around €700,000,000/annum. That's our money, for the most part, but no mention of it, ever.

Again and again I've made the point here; regardless of whether they are guaranteed or not these bonds are crippling the economy. The money for those payments is generated here, those bond payments are the absolute priority of the banks - why then do you think there is no 'risk' money available to business? If you can prove you don't need you'll get it - not otherwise.

Anyway, there was a little event in the week just past that probably slipped yere notice but then that's understandable - it wasn't highlighted in any of our major media; THIS government renewed the bank guarantee. The banks, you see, still have priority over the people; deeper and deeper into debt this government will lead us, bloodier and bloodier the bites in the austerity budgets as the bailout continues unabated.