DUP and Sinn Fein defend £1000 MLA pay rise – with another £500 to come in April taking them to £51,000

The DUP and Sinn Fein have defended a pay rise of £1000 for MLAs – taking each member to £50,000 – despite it being branded “a slap in the face to nurses” and a rise “most people can only dream of”.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Jan 2020, 20:13 BST
Updated 21st Jan 2020, 20:17 BST
Pay rises triggered by inflation had been due for MLAs but had been put on hold while Stormont was suspended. Photo: Jonathan Porter / Press EyePay rises triggered by inflation had been due for MLAs but had been put on hold while Stormont was suspended. Photo: Jonathan Porter / Press Eye
Pay rises triggered by inflation had been due for MLAs but had been put on hold while Stormont was suspended. Photo: Jonathan Porter / Press Eye

And Alan McQuillan, a former member of the body which set the pay increases, said MLAs will also gain a further £500 in April.

MLAs were due to receive the extra money over the past three years, but the annual rise was blocked by the former NI Secretary of State Karen Bradley.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Assembly Commission asked her to freeze the increases because Stormont was suspended.

Speaker Robin Newton said such an increase would not have been “appropriate in the circumstances” the BBC reported.

However now that Stormont is restored, each MLA will see their salary rise from £49,500 to £50,500.

People before profit MLA Gerry Carroll said: “The fact that MLAs are back in post just over a week and are having their wages topped up will no doubt come as a slap in the face to nurses who stood on freezing pickets for months for pay parity, and the civil service staff who are still taking industrial action to get what they deserve.”

However both the DUP and Sinn Fein defended the rise.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A DUP spokesman said: “It is right that MLAs do not take decisions on their pay and office cost allowances. We support the independence of this process.”

The comments were echoed by Sinn Fein. “MLA’s pay is set by an independent body, not by MLAs,” a spokesman said. “MLAs had no input into this decision, nor did they seek it.”

But Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said most people could not dream of such a pay rise.

“Many taxpayers will rightly ask if this is the best use of their hard-earned cash,” he said. “In the current economic climate most people can only dream of such a generous pay rise. Assembly members must demonstrate to their constituents they are worth their salaries.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Alan McQuillan, a member of Independent Financial Review Panel until 2016, said they approved an annual pay rise of £500 for MLAs if inflation rose above 1% in any year. As inflation had been around 2% for the past three years, the £1000 is “fair enough” he said. In fact the £1000 was sub-inflationary, so the MLAs’ salaries have actually been losing spending power as the panel only estimated inflation reaching around !% per year, he added.The panel had benchmarked the salary level against a wide range of private and public sector salaries for similar positions, he added.

MLAs are also entitled to around £80,000 per year in expenses, he added.

Related topics:MLAsDUPSinn Fein