County councillors in line for pay rise

County councillors look set to receive a pay increase under proposals being put forward by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar.

The Irish Independent reported that the changes could result in councillors having their annual pay increased by around €800 each from next January.

The increase has been interpreted as an attempt by Minister Varadkar to shore up councillors’ support ahead of a future bid for leadership of the Fine Gael party.

At the moment county councillors - of which there are 20 in Westmeath, and 18 in Roscommon - receive an annual payment of €16,565, along with expenses and allowances.

Minister Varadkar has offered councillors a choice of two possible options for changing the way in which the PRSI system currently affects them.

The first option would involve increasing the PRSI threshold for councillors, meaning they would no longer have to pay a PRSI contribution of 4%.

The Irish Independent said this would effectively result in a pay increase of €800 per member per year, but the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) said the change would “give an elected member an increase in their take home pay of €663.”

The other possible change which is on the table would see councillors moving from PRSI Class K to Class S.

This would mean that they would continue to pay PRSI at their current rate but would be entitled to social insurance benefits including a contributory pension. If councillors decide on the first option, their pay would be increased by over €3,300 during the course of a five-year term on the council.