MLAs are set for a pay rise at the start of the next Assembly mandate – but could see their salaries slashed by up to 30% if a new Executive is not formed on time.
The Independent Remuneration Board today confirmed that basic MLA pay will increase from £67,200 to £68,544 from the first sitting day of the new Assembly in 2027.
That 2% uplift is lower than the 3% originally proposed, after more than 90% of 270 consultation respondents said the suggested MLA salary was too high.
Board chair Alan Lowry said the panel had “made significant adjustments” in response to public feedback, cutting the initial rise and tightening the formula for future increases.
Under the new arrangements, MLA salaries from 2027 to 2032 will be linked to median earnings growth in Northern Ireland but capped at a maximum increase of 2% per year – down from the 3% cap first floated.
Mr Lowry said the mechanism was “structured and transparent”, kept pay “aligned to wider developments in society” and was designed to “maintain public confidence in the process”.
He added that the 2027 Determination reflects inflation and broader pay trends and represents a “more modest financial adjustment” than the corrective changes introduced earlier this year.
“MLAs carry out a wide range of important duties, from representing constituents and scrutinising legislation to holding Ministers and Departments to account,” he said.
“It is right that their remuneration recognises the complexity and importance of those responsibilities, while ensuring that financial considerations do not discourage people from seeking elected office.”
The new Determination also sets out the separate payments made to office-holders – such as the Speaker, Ministers and committee chairs – which will remain frozen in cash terms across the 2027–32 mandate, even as the basic salary can rise in line with earnings (up to the 2% cap).
The Board has built in automatic pay penalties if Stormont is not up and running after the next election – or if the posts of First Minister and deputy First Minister fall vacant during the mandate.
If a government has not been formed within six weeks, MLA salaries would be cut by 10%. A further 10% reduction would kick in at 12 weeks, and another at 18 weeks, within the 24‑week statutory period allowed under the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
In total, that would mean a potential 30% pay reduction if parties fail to agree an Executive, echoing widespread public anger at previous periods of deadlock when full salaries were paid despite lengthy collapse.
The final 2027 Determination has now been passed to the Assembly Commission for publication and implementation ahead of the next mandate.
