Stormont prioritising own wages over ordinary people with £14,000 hike, says TUV MLA
“At a time when major issues facing ordinary people go unaddressed, Stormont has made clear what its priorities are,” the TUV has said, as a £14,000 pay increase for MLAs was put forward.
The party’s sole assembly member, Timothy Gaston, has claimed that an independent body’s recommendation that wages should go up around 27% is “exactly what MLAs wanted” – and, he claimed, moves pay for Northern Irish politicians close to the equivalent of a 72,000 per year salary found in the Irish senate.
“When this legislation came before the Assembly, I warned that the dice were loaded to produce a massive pay hike,” he said. “That warning has now been vindicated.
“This comes at a time when Stormont has less power than ever. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, legislative authority has been stripped away, yet MLA pay is being increased dramatically.
“T here has been no meaningful public consultation on the legislation which delivered this, and none at all on the determination [of increasing salaries to £67,000 per year] imposed.
“The public pay MLA wages, yet they were never asked. Indeed, MLAs have designed a system which ensures the taxpayer has no voice.”
The Ulster Unionists, however, reinforced that the decision to bump up wages by £14,000 was made by an independent body, which the party stated makes the move “separate from any political decision”.
“As a party we made no submission to the panel,” said a UUP spokesman. “Their draft determination was arrived at through their independent work.”