Local councillors are set to receive nearly a 50% pay hike worth a whopping €8,000 extra a year.
The proposal to give councillors a massive pay increase on top of their €17,359 salary – before lucrative expenses – was supported by the Government last night.
Ministers agreed at Cabinet not to oppose a motion from Senators Gerard Craughwell and Victor Boyhan coming before the Seanad calling for the huge bump.
This paves the way for the pay increases that will reward the lower-league politicians who often do all the ground work for their nationally elected political masters.
And in the case of Senators, most of them are directly elected by panels of councillors.
Councillors receive a basic salary of €17,359 a year, along with an expenses allowance worth another €5,335, and committee memberships worth up to €6,000 more.
On top of this they can claim vouched expenses for mobile phone bills, broadband, office costs, training and the infamous mileage for attending conferences, which all can easily add another €10,000 a year to a councillor’s bank account.
And if you are lucky enough to be elected a Lord Mayor, you can bag an extra allowance of €30,000 for the year, although it’s accepted this role is full-time these days.
The recommendations for the pay rise is coming from the specially commissioned Moorhead report on the Role and Remuneration of Elected Local Authority Members.
Barrister Sara Moorhead compiled the report and submitted an interim version in 2018, with the final draft given to the Department of Housing and Local Government last September.
Councillors and other local authority members are part-time and often have other full-time jobs where they get an income.
Some do work full-time at the gig, but the minimum hours required, generally a long council meeting on the first Monday of every month, are only part-time.
Unsurprisingly, there has been support from national politicians to massively increase the pay of their junior political partners.
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock spoke on the issue in the Seanad yesterday.
She said: “From speaking to our Labour Councillor network, to Councillors across the country and from my own experience on Dublin City Council, it is clear that the impact of low pay has a damaging impact on our local democracy.
“There are far too many who experience major difficulties in balancing employment and their Council duties along with caring and other commitments.
“This speaks to a significant problem in our local government system, which reforms to the pay of Councillors would go some way to address.
“Improving Councillors' pay is about showing respect and affording greater dignity to those who make policy for and advocate on behalf of their local communities.”
