The salaries of Northern Ireland Assembly members could be further reduced at the end of the year following the British government's suspension of devolution, the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid has warned.
In a letter to the Assembly, he said salaries would be dropping from £41,000 to their pre-devolution levels of around £29,000. However, he added: "If the Assembly remains without its essential responsibilities, I believe these arrangements would need to be looked at again. We shall therefore review the situation by the end of the year."
Dr Reid paid tribute to the Assembly's work, claiming it had an "impressive record" and had been an unprecedented forum for "dialogue" in the North. "We will do all we can to restore it and the other institutions as soon as possible," he said. The North's Finance Minister, Mr Sean Farren, yesterday announced a £144 million boost to public spending aimed at improving health, education and transport services before the Assembly was suspended. A total of £43 million will go to the health service and £5 million for new buses with better access for elderly and disabled people. The package was agreed with the First and Deputy First Minister.
It includes £29 million for the Department of Education, £11.7 million for the water service, £4.1 million for key aspects of the Department of Culture's programme, and £11 million for the Department of Agriculture. The North's Education Minister, Mr Martin McGuinness, pledged not to let the Assembly's suspension thwart his plans to abolish the 11-plus exam.
He defended his controversial eleventh-hour decision amidst criticism from the DUP and Ulster Unionists. Assembly member, Mr Tom Hamilton, accused Mr McGuinness of making his announcement last Friday night "under the cover of darkness".
"How does the minister square the fact that 64 per cent of parents, 62 per cent of teachers, and 50 per cent of pupils support the retention of academic selection in his own recent response survey? Is it not the case that his decision was driven by petty political malice and his own personal prejudice?"
Mr McGuinness conceded that two-thirds of those who responded supported the retention of academic selection.
However, just 16 per cent of people had returned the household form and the response from well-off areas was almost three times that of poorer areas, he said.