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Stormont MLAs have finalised a 27% pay rise worth £14,000, which will see their salaries increase from £52,000 to £67,200. Minister pay will also rise, with the First and Deputy First Ministers set to receive a total salary of £140,000.
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The increases have been recommended by an Independent Remuneration Board established by Stormont and will apply to all 90 MLAs. In 2025, parties voted down an amendment to the Remuneration Board bill that would have capped potential pay increases at the rate of CPI.
The finalisation of the pay rise comes after Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said last month that, due to budgetary concerns, he could not confirm whether healthcare staff would receive a 3.3% pay increase in line with NHS counterparts in England and Wales.
People Before Profit Newry and Armagh representative Marc Mac Seáin criticised the decision, saying: "This pay increase as we see massive fuel price hikes is disgraceful. MLAs have been hiding, but now the 'official opposition' SDLP has announced support of increasing their own pay. We instead should see support for those being rinsed by fuel & energy costs."
He added: "It's a slap in the face to working people across the North of Ireland that as their own pay remains stagnant, Stormont parties are set to enjoy a massive wage increase. And this during a widely acknowledged cost of living crisis. There wasn't even a public consultation held."
Mac Seáin also pointed to the makeup of the board itself: "From the start we scrutinised & opposed attempts to set up this 'independent' board as we could predict what it would recommend. Our proposal that it be made up of trade unionists was voted down, and instead it was considered former MLAs with a conflict of interest could sit on the board."
He continued: "People Before Profit remains the only party in Ireland whose elected representatives take home an average industrial wage. As socialists we don't see how you can truly represent the situation of workers if you're on double, potentially triple their wage. Newry & Armagh for instance has a 30% poverty rate for children. We have massive levels of deprivation & intentionally broken public services as Britain announces its biggest ever budget surplus."
Mac Seáin concluded: "These increases are justified as being in line with other devolved assemblies yet the same criticisms can be levelled at each body. This is yet another sign of how dysfunctional Stormont is, and how we need to do away with it."
