Suggestion Stormont politicians could have pay parity with Scottish and Welsh counterparts branded ‘nonsense’
The former head of an independent panel responsible for setting MLA pay has said any suggestion that local politicians should have pay parity with counterparts in Scotland and Wales is “nonsense”.
Stormont’s Assembly Commission – which has representatives from all the main parties – has noted in a report that politicians in devolved legislatures in Scotland and Wales are paid around £19,000 per year more.
An MLA's annual gross salary will be £53,000 from 1 April 2025 – while their counterparts in Cardiff and Edinburgh receive just over £72,057.
Speaking to the BBC Nolan Show, Pat McCartan – the former chair of the Independent Financial Review Panel (IFRP) of the Northern Ireland Assembly – rejected the comparison.
He said the role of MLAs are very different in “scope and depth” – as MSPs in Scotland set tax rates, for example.
He said a 38% pay increase was “not justified” – and that the IFRP had compared the work of MLAs to other elected chambers in the UK and Ireland. Mr McCartan said there were far fewer constituents per Assembly member here than in Wales or Scotland.
“Take for example Scotland, they determine tax levels, they raise monies. That’s not what we’re about here… if they were doing that I think they could make an argument”, he said.
TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston said: “The Bill from the Assembly Commission - on which all Executive parties and SDLP are represented - has a clear agenda.
“It strips out the power for the Remuneration Board to make recommendations on MLA allowances leaving these with the Assembly Commission comprised of MLAs from the Executive plus the SDLP.
“When it comes to MLA pay, it stipulates that the Remuneration Board ‘must have regard to the salaries payable to MPs, members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament and (bizarrely) members of both Houses of Parliament in the Irish Republic.
“Additionally, it removes provisions which prevented former MLAs from sitting on the panel. This creates a clear conflict of interest as former MLAs benefit from the Assembly pension scheme”.