A total of 41 the North's Assembly members have employed a relative through their Stormont allowances, a new list of members’ interests confirmed today.
The register of interests published on the Assembly website provides information on the finances of all 108 Stormont politicians, including earnings from outside their public roles.
Although much of the information was already in the public domain, Assembly members said they hoped the publication of the register, in line with a new code of conduct for MLAs, would help improve transparency.
The move came as Sinn Féin today pre-empted the launch of a report next week, which is expected to include information on MLAs’ future wages, by declaring the party would not support any pay rise for politicians.
The Register of Members’ Interests was published by the Assembly’s Standards and Privileges Committee and its chairman Declan O’Loan said it would ensure politicians’ private interests did not clash with their public role.
“Openness at the Assembly is essential to ensure public confidence. I therefore welcome the publication of the new Register of Members’ Interests which further increases transparency at the Assembly,” said the SDLP representative.
Assembly members are asked to reveal any extra earnings they make, directorships they might hold, or gifts they have received.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams confirmed additional earnings in his role as an author and a contributor to a newspaper group. The register records him as having received £9,600 in a year, involving an average of 18 hours work a month.
All MLAs were asked to register ownership of properties other than their family home. Mr Adams recorded his Donegal holiday home, writing: “Residential property owned jointly with my wife in the twenty-six counties.”
DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson listed his additional properties as being an apartment in London, a house in Florida and a Constituency Office in east Belfast which he said are owned jointly with his politician wife, Iris Robinson.
He declared his earnings as including £64,766 as an MP and $71,434 as First Minister.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan confirmed his earnings of £64,766 as an MP, and confirmed he employed his wife on a part-time basis in his office.
PA