TDs are expected to receive a salary increase of up to £10,000 a year under a review of public sector pay presented to the Government recently.
However, it is understood that details of the Buckley pay review have been delayed due to the crisis over the Partnership for Prosperity and Fairness and the teachers' industrial action.
The Buckley review recommends linking TDs' salaries to those of principal officers in the Civil Service at the higher scale, which would give deputies £50,536 a year compared to their current salary of more than £41,000.
The Government is anxious to keep an announcement of a pay increase quiet until it concludes talks with the social partners, and the Buckley report may not be published until the new year.
It is understood the report, officially presented to the Minister for Finance in the past month, has been circulated to various Government Departments so costings on the pay recommendations could be carried out. The review also makes recommendations on the pay of consultants, judges and senior civil servants.