Irish MEPs will gain salary increases of over £20,000 a year if revised proposals on salaries are agreed. Their basic pay would no longer be set at the level of a TD. However, they could lose out under a tightening of travel expenses.
MEPs would receive the same salaries throughout the EU. Regarding expenses, MEPs would have to give evidence of travelling and payment on business class by air and first class for trains to claim such amounts.
The proposals, in a report of the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, were introduced at a press conference yesterday and will go before the full parliament in December.
Until now, MEPs' salaries have been set according to those received by the national parliamentarians in each member-state. As a result, payments to MEPs have varied vastly; for instance, Spanish MEPs earn 2.827 ecus per month, while Italian MEPs get 9.635.
Irish MEPs earn a basic annual salary, excluding allowances, of approximately £36,000, the same as TDs, which is roughly £3,000 per month.
The new proposal is for all MEPs to earn 5,677.62 euros, which is approximately £4540.
Parliamentary allowances will also be brought down and income from other sources will be offset, as will money from other public mandates.
The report recognises that the difference in salaries will not be easy to harmonise. It could not be achieved in one step. Therefore it proposes that those elected next year for the first time will be on the new salary.
Those who are re-elected can opt for the current system but only for one parliamentary term, which is five years. After that they, too, will be on an equal footing.
The option has been proposed to allow for tax adjustments and arrangements for pensions. During the five years, arrangements will be worked out.
The Swedish have indicated that they will be against the proposals, claiming that MEPs should not earn more than MPs.