A salary increase for members was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly yesterday but not before the chamber heard lively addresses from those resisting the post-devolution pay rise. Members' salaries now stand at £38,036 before allowances, an increase of almost £9,000 on the base-rate salary for politicians in the Assembly while it operated in shadow mode for almost a year and a half. "If ever there was a poison chalice I think I have it," said Mr John Fee (SDLP, Newry and Armagh), referring to controversy on the issue, as he began his presentation on behalf of the Assembly commission and urged members to vote in favour.
The First Minister, Mr David Trimble, and the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, will now receive an equal salary of £102,344. Ministers in the new executive are to receive £71,396 as will the Assembly's Presiding Officer. Members of the Assembly commission and chairpersons of statutory committees will receive £48,036, with deputy chairpersons receiving £43,036.
Mr Fee stressed that last February, members voted unanimously in favour of the then shadow commission's recommendation that they accept the opinion of the British Senior Salaries and Review Board on what members should be paid.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, urged that the matter be deferred until the next sitting of the chamber to allow the commission to examine the issue further. The salary was almost three times what someone on social welfare received and to accept the rise would affect the credibility of the Assembly, he said, adding: "I just think it is a matter of social justice."
The leader of the anti-agreement UK Unionist party, Mr Robert McCartney, said the monies represented a "gross overpayment" and Mr Adams was a shrewd politician who had judged how the public would react.
"Before people put their snouts well and truly in the trough, they should ask themselves if it will be to their ultimate benefit."
Mr McCartney criticised some members who he claimed had been unemployed before election to office, "many of whom throughout their lives have never contributed a single penny to this state by way of income tax".
Mr David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party said Mr McCartney's comments were insulting and like Sinn Fein members, he and Mr Billy Hutchinson drew only an industrial wage from the salary with the surplus returning to the party.
He stressed that if the Northern political system was going to attract a high calibre of politicians successfully in the future - "people who in the past avoided the bear pit of the political debate" - it had to be made financially "worth their while".