TDs and senators are being offered a further €5,000 on top of their normal €7,800 retirement gratuity if they resign from local councils by the end of June.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, yesterday announced the extra inducement, which is designed to allow the political parties put replacements onto local authorities to give them a chance to build a profile before the local elections to be held in May 2004.
Over 100 deputies and senators who are currently local councillors are expected to take the €12,800 payment by resigning their council seats.
Mr Cullen announced the new payment yesterday when launching the Local Government Bill 2003, which will end dual membership of the Oireachtas and local authorities from the next local elections in June 2004. Mr Cullen yesterday described the separation of local from national government as historic.
The Bill, which may become law before Easter, marks the abandonment of the plan, first mooted by the previous minister, Mr Noel Dempsey, for the direct election of mayors and chairs of councils.
This move had been strongly opposed by Fianna Fáil TDs and senators, who believed such figures could become high-profile rivals to sitting Oireachtas members. Mr Cullen said the separation of local and national government was necessary because of the increased demands on both local authority members and Oireachtas members.
"The role of the local councillor has changed dramatically. Equally at Dáil and Oireachtas level, with the expansion of committees, the roles are not possible to be fulfilled by one person.
He defended the payments to councillors who retire, saying that the extra €5,000 payment was "reasonable and I think recognises what the contribution has been and the loss of income has been". That loss of income would be incurred by councillors who retire early, as they will be forfeiting the salary for local authority members - currently €12,100 per year.
Mr Cullen is beginning a study of local government financing, and pledged to develop "further measures to improve local authority performance and the role of the elected council".
Fine Gael's environment spokesman Mr Bernard Allen described the Bill as "disappointing", saying he had expected the ban on the dual mandate would be "one part of a comprehensive and major local Government reform package aimed at strengthening the role of local authority members".
He said the Government was "cowardly" in abandoning plans to have directly elected mayors. "The Government is obviously afraid to face the electorate in such elections, as its candidates would undoubtedly suffer because of the Government's deception and the countless promises broken since the last general election campaign."
Labour's spokesman Mr Eamon Gilmore also claimed the Government was "running away from the electorate" by abandoning plans for directly elected mayors. "Fianna Fáil fear the wrath of the people over the litany of broken promises and have moved to rob the people of the chance to directly elect people to these key positions in local government."