The changing role of parliamentary committees meant more work and longer hours for members of the Dail and Seanad. This justified "significant increases" in their salaries, according to the Buckley committee on higher remuneration in the public sector in its report to the Minister for Finance.
The Government has decided to implement the recommended increases. This means a rise of 18.7 per cent for TDs from the current £39,184 up to the new level of £46,506. Senators are currently paid an annual salary of £24,794, which rises by 31.3 per cent to £32,554.
The terms of reference for the independent committee required it to recommend "an appropriate Civil Service grade to which the pay of Dail deputies would be linked for the future" and to assess the "proportionate relationship" which senators' pay should have to the remuneration of TDs.
The review body considered that the overhaul of the structure and terms of reference of the committees at Leinster House since the last general election had significant implications for the workload of Oireachtas members.
"Involvement in committees affects the workload of non-office holding TDs and senators to a major extent," it said.
It also asked Hay Management Consultants to compare a TD's "job weight" with those of assistant principal (higher), principal officer (standard) and principal officer (higher) in the Civil Service.
On the basis of the role of an "average" TD, the consultants suggested the grade of principal officer (standard) was the most appropriate comparison and recommended that a TD's salary be set at the ordinary maximum of that grade, i.e., £46,506 per annum. It also recommended that senators be paid 70 per cent of a TD's salary, or £32,554 per annum.
Another important recommendation, also accepted by the Government, was that TDs' salaries, and by implication the remuneration of senators, be automatically linked to the principal officer (standard) grade in the future. This means that increases at that level will automatically be paid to Oireachtas members.
The review body is chaired by Mr Michael Buckley, a senior executive at AIB bank. Its members are Mr Peter Malone, former managing director of the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group; Ms Vivienne Jupp, partner, Accenture management consultants; Mr Cormac McHenry and Mr Noel O'Neill, members of the Labour Court; and Prof Brian Hillery, of the Graduate School of Business at UCD and a former FF deputy ail TD and senator.