MLA pay rise eight weeks after Stormont return

Northern Ireland Assembly members are receiving a pay rise eight weeks after the restoration of Stormont power-sharing.

In line with assembly rules, their basic annual salary will increase by £500 from Monday to £52,500.

Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive will also receive the same uplift in their wages.

The assembly said the pay rise was determined independently on the basis of inflation criteria.

Stormont's institutions were revived in February after a two-year hiatus.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had been blocking them in protest over Brexit trade rules, but ended its boycott after a deal with the UK government.

Members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) had their salaries cut by the government to about £37,000 in January 2023 due to Stormont's collapse.

Their annual wages were restored to previous levels when devolution returned.

The assembly confirmed a £500 uplift would be applied to MLAs' salaries from Monday.

It said it means First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will each now earn £124,500 a year.

Ministers for other executive departments and the assembly Speaker Edwin Poots will earn £90,500.

Chairs of statutory scrutiny committees and the public accounts committee are entitled to £64,500.

Junior ministers, deputy assembly speakers and members of the Assembly Commission will earn £58,500.

MLAs earn less than their counterparts in the UK's other devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales.

Members of the Scottish Parliament receive £72,195 while members of the Welsh Parliament earn £72,057.

MPs will receive a 5.5% pay rise from April, lifting their annual salary to £91,346.

Rules for MLA pay had been set by the Independent Financial Review Panel, which has not been reappointed since its term ended in 2016.

MLAs took issue with some of the rules it imposed, including limits on salaries for constituency office staff and other matters such as office signage.

There were plans to re-establish the panel with the sole remit of setting the pay and pension entitlements of MLAs.

However, the proposals stalled ahead of the last assembly election in 2022.

An assembly spokeswoman said the pay uplift was applied as a result of inflation criteria being met.

"Under the terms of the Assembly Members (Salaries and Expenses) Determination (Northern Ireland) 2016, which was determined independently, MLAs will qualify for a £500 pay increase from the 1 April 2024 on the basis of criterion in relation to the rate of inflation," she said.

"As a result, an MLA's annual gross salary will be £52,500 from 1 April 2024."

The spokeswoman added that the salaries for office-holder roles specified in the 2016 determination would also increase by £500 from 1 April 2024.