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.
““The practical outworking of this is that we now have the sham of MLAs claiming that nothing has been decided in terms of a pay rise while knowing full well that they have set the parameters of the legislation in such a way that a significant hike in pay is inevitable. In dictating that the Remuneration Board must take account of salaries paid to members in other legislatures – where the pay is greater than that received by MLAs currently – it is an obvious stitch up.
“The previous Financial Review Panel was not perfect – it made some crazy decisions about not permitting MLA office phone numbers on office signs for example – but to propose such radical change is totally unwarranted. While the Assembly was determined to avoid a vote this week, TUV – having forced a public debate on the issue – will ensure that amendments are tabled which if passed will derail the bonanza pay deal for Northern Ireland’s underworked MLAs. Should the amendments not be passed the public will have opportunity to pass their verdict on those who oppose them.
“Many people will draw their own conclusions from the fact that while there is a distinct lack of legislation on the issues which matter to the public, MLAs have been able to find the time to construct a Bill of this nature in their own selfish interests. What a telling commentary on one year of devolution!”