Too few or too many AMs?

As Sir Emyr Jones Parry begins his consideration of further powers for the Assembly, which may include increasing the number of AMs, it is worth reading the following letter from the Belfast Telegraph, which gives considerbale food for thought.

A reflection on the news of a potential salary increase for Northern Ireland Assembly members.

Northern Ireland has a population of 1,685,267 and elects 108 Assembly Members. That is one Assembly member for every 15,604 people.A Northern Ireland Assembly member's current basic salary is £43,101.

Wales has a population of 2,903,085 and elects 60 Assembly members. That is one Assembly member for every 48,385 people.A Welsh Assembly member's current basic salary is £46,596.

If Northern Ireland's level of representation was the same as Wales there would be no more than 35 Assembly members.

If Wales had parity of representation with Northern Ireland there would be 186 Welsh Assembly members.

Scotland has a population of 5,062,011 and elects 129 members of the Scottish Parliament. That is one member of the Scottish Parliament for every 39,240 people.A member of the Scottish Parliament's current basic salary is £53,091.If Northern Ireland's level of representation was the same as Scotland there would be no more than 43 Assembly members.

If Scotland had parity of representation with Northern Ireland there would be 324 members of the Scottish Parliament.The Republic has a population of 4,234,925 and elects 166 members to Dail Eireann. That is one TD for every 25,511 people. A TD's current salary is £76,312

If Northern Ireland's level of representation was the same as the Republic there would be no more than 67 Assembly members.If the Republic had parity of representation with Northern Ireland there would be 271 members of Dail Eireann.

If our Assembly members require a pay increase, I would suggest they first address the level of membership to the Northern Ireland Assembly to align it more closely to any of the above. They should acknowledge, however, that Dail Eireann is a sovereign parliament while the Northern Ireland Assembly is a regional assembly under a sovereign parliament.

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PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

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