{"id":2028,"date":"2017-10-21T16:35:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-21T16:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=2028"},"modified":"2022-02-26T18:14:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T18:14:34","slug":"how-much-do-mlas-earn-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/peace\/how-much-do-mlas-earn-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"How much do MLAs earn (or not)?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The claim is accurate. The annual salary of an MLA is \u00a349,500. For the period covered by the claim (13\/3-13\/9\/2017), MLAs received a combined estimate of \u00a32,333,188.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Members of Northern Ireland\u2019s legislative assembly (MLAs) have been paid a salary since their election to office and\u00a0signing onto the roll of membership<\/a>\u00a0on 13th March 2017. But how much wage have they collected?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progressive Politics NI claimed that MLAs were paid\u00a0\u201cnearly \u00a32.2 million\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in salaries up to 3rd September 2017. Is this accurate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Progressive Politics NI?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its website,\u00a0Progressive Politics NI<\/a>\u00a0(PPNI) is a campaign run by two activists: Scott Moore and Matthew Fulton. It was\u00a0created on 15 January 2017<\/a>\u00a0and has over 2,000 people following its\u00a0Facebook Page<\/a>. FactCheck NI spoke to Scott Moore via Facebook on 6 September. Scott explained to us that the objective of PPNI is to be a media platform that \u201cpromotes politics in Northern Ireland that is broadly socially liberal and economically left with a focus on cross-party cooperation\u201d. \u00a0The organisers\u00a0have shared several posts to promote awareness about the cost of having a non-functioning Assembly in place. More specifically on 29 June and 3 September<\/a>, they shared the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ProgressivePoliticsNI\/posts\/1752009601759116<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How much salary\u00a0do MLAs receive?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FactCheckNI asked PPNI to explain how it calculated its estimate of \u201cnearly \u00a32.2 million\u201d; it replied that it was based on MLAs earning a salary of \u00a348,000 p.a.\u00a0For the period of 13\/3\/2017-13\/9\/2017 (6 months), this equates to \u00a32,160,000 (\u00a34,000\/month X 6 months X 90 MLAs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this did not take into\u00a0account that members received a pay rise on the 1st of April 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2016, the\u00a0Independent Financial Review Panel\u00a0<\/a>approved a salary\u00a0increase<\/a> for MLAs, from \u00a348,000 p.a. to \u00a349,000 p.a., effective from May 2016. The panel also approved an annual increase of \u00a3500 that will take effect on the 1st of April each year, as a part of a\u00a0new 5-year deal<\/a>. The annual increase is dependent on the Consumer Price Index increasing by more than 1% in the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the increase taking effect in April this year, MLAs now earn a salary of \u00a349,500 p.a., or \u00a34,125\/month (NB the salary rate for 13-31\/3\/2017 was at \u00a349,000 p.a.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are former office holders (Ministers, Speakers) still receiving pay?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As explained by the\u00a0Northern Ireland Assembly website<\/a>, in the absence of a newly elected Speaker and Deputy Speakers, or First Minister and deputy First Minister, those who held the following positions at the time of the previous election (unless they have resigned) continue to receive their salaries:<\/p>\n\n\n\n