Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly: Members' Salaries (Hansard, 17 March 2004)

§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)
My Lords, the question of the salaries and allowances paid to Members of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly and to parties is being kept under review.

§ Lord Smith of Clifton
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that brief Answer. Is she aware that in the 19 months from the suspension in October 2002, until Good Friday this year, the Assembly will have cost the taxpayer just under £10 million? Your Lordships' Chamber is reckoned to be the cheapest legislature in the western world and Stormont is the most expensive, because it has not done a stroke of work since 2002. When will the Government call a halt to that pointless expenditure? Stopping the pay of MLAs might just spur them at last to enter into meaningful negotiations. Would not Good Friday be an appropriate day to start?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Clifton, is aware of the justification that we have given for the payment of MLA salaries and allowances, as well as party allowances, following the election. MLAs carry out constituency duties and have done so since the elections in November 2003. I do not consider it right to keep people engaged in politics without an income and, as the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Clifton, is aware, some are participating in the review.

§ Lord Glentoran
My Lords, does the Lord President agree that this situation has occurred because of Sinn Fein's continual refusal to give up terrorism? Furthermore, does she agree that the privileges granted to Sinn Fein by special resolution of another place should also he withdrawn? She may be aware that only today, or perhaps yesterday, Sinn Fein spent £25,000 in America taking a full-page advertisement decrying the PSNI.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, knows that I have said many times from this Dispatch Box that we want to see an end to all paramilitary activity. As part of the review process, since the Tohill incident, focus has been placed on the need to end paramilitary activity and the Government are working towards that. We want to see the peace process in Northern Ireland enshrined and the people of Northern Ireland want to see that as well. The Taoiseach and my right honourable friend the Prime 263 Minister will try to reinvigorate the process in their meetings next week and we should give them every support.

§ Earl Ferrers
My Lords, would the Leader of the House be good enough to have another shot at answering the Question that was put to her? Do the Government intend to continue to pay the salaries of Members from 9 April, which is in about four weeks' time? As I understood it, the noble Baroness said that the matter was continuously under review, but will salaries continue to be paid or not?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the fact that I said that the process is under review means that a decision on stopping payments has not been made. The payments will continue and the process will be reviewed.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, does the noble Baroness have a view on the question asked by my noble friend Lord Glentoran concerning the advertisement placed in the American press?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, that is a matter for Sinn Fein.

§ Lord Shutt of Greetland
My Lords, will the noble Baroness indicate whether she considers satisfactory the non-activity of the Assembly and the fact that this House and the other place spent three-and-a-half hours in total scrutinising the budget for the entirety of Northern Ireland? If direct rule continues for much longer, will there be some other way in which such scrutiny can be properly achieved?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, noble Lords will know that I am as concerned as they are that we are having to deal with some complicated and quite technical information in a Grand Committee. We would all like to see devolution restored as quickly as possible and we have made that absolutely clear. That is what we are working towards.
One issue that we discussed in this House recently was the importance of support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the fact that, for example, we want to see Sinn Fein included on the Policing Board in Northern Ireland. Reference has been made to the advertisement in the United States. I deeply regret that but it is a matter for Sinn Fein. However, we all feel that Sinn Fein's role—for example, on the Policing Board—would take the peace process much further forward. We would like to see devolution restored and that is what we are working for.

§ Viscount Brookeborough
My Lords, does the Lord President agree that, in the context of the Question, the newspaper advertisement to which reference has been made is not entirely a matter for Sinn Fein? Basically, the Question concerns how long the Assembly will remain suspended, and Sinn Fein's acceptance of the policing of Northern Ireland has a direct bearing on that. Therefore, the two issues are interlinked. We 264 should not say that this matter is entirely for Sinn Fein; it is for this Government, the Irish Government and, at this moment, this House.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the use of its money for the placing of advertisements in the United States is a matter for Sinn Fein. The policy implications of that and the fact that we, the Irish Government and others have worked tirelessly to bring all parties to the table is of course a matter for this House and for all of us. But there is a distinction between those two issues. I was asked specifically about the amount of money spent on an advertisement. That is not a matter for the British Government, but the policy implications arising from that and from the work that we are doing to restore devolution and to bring peace to Northern Ireland are, of course, matters of great concern to this Government, this House and the Irish Government.

§ Baroness Park of Monmouth
My Lords, have the Government taken, or do they intend to take, any steps to point out publicly in America that, when the PSNI was set up, Gerry Adams said that Sinn Fein would treat anyone who joined it, including the young Catholics whom everyone hoped would join. as it had always treated the police—that is, they would be killed? The first young graduate was, indeed, shot at. What steps are the Government taking to set these matters right publicly in the United States, as opposed to talking behind the scenes, very properly, with government?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the noble Baroness may be aware that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is in the United States at this very moment. He will be engaging in talks on these matters not only with US Government representatives but with others. In relation to employment within the Police Service of Northern Ireland, we have worked very hard with regard to 50:50 recruitment and we have seen the number of Catholics recruited increase from 8 to 14 per cent. There was some controversy in this House surrounding the renewal of that order. However, we remain committed to trying to bring about a more integrated service in Northern Ireland because we need a police force that reflects the community that it serves.