Read on Twitter
What have the DUP got from the GFA they opposed, a thread 
1. Paisley Snr was FM for 2 yrs so ~£240k. He was an MLA for 13yrs so £650k from that. All plus pension.
1. Paisley Snr was FM for 2 yrs so ~£240k. He was an MLA for 13yrs so £650k from that. All plus pension.
2. Peter Robinson was FM for 8yrs so ~£960k. He was Minister for Regional Development for 2 yrs so ~£160k on top of that. He was an MLA for 8 yrs so ~£400k for that. All plus pension.
3. Foster is FM for 4 yrs so ~£480k. She has held various ministries over 9 yrs so ~£783k from that. Around another 4 yrs as an MLA so ~£200k from that. All plus pension.
4. Dodds has held various Ministries over 4 years so ~£320k for that. He was an MLA for 8 yrs on top of that so another ~£400k for that.
Finally an approximate estimate of the total Assembly paybill of all DUP MLAs since 98 (22yrs). Assuming an average wage of say £45k and an average DUP MLA cohort of say 30 seats thats 30x22x45k i.e £29,700,000 in pay over 22yrs. Paid for by you.
This excludes office expenses, pensions, & other Ministerial salaries not already mentioned. So next lets add some MLA office expenses to this. Office expenses across the Assembly run at ~£6.4m pa for 90 MLAs; an average of ~£70k per MLA per annum.
So 30 MLAs x 22yrs x £70k is £46.2m over 22yrs in office expenses for DUP. So salaries plus MLA office expenses are £29.7m + £46.2m = 75.9m over 22yrs.
DUP arent alone but I hope this educates regarding the sort of money that exists in politics here. We are paying. Con for coin.
DUP arent alone but I hope this educates regarding the sort of money that exists in politics here. We are paying. Con for coin.
Ppl have asked about the cost of Spads. Its a bit trickier as the rules on Spad pay changed this year reducing pay rates from ~£85k to 3 different pay bands & numbers of Spads have varied but I will try an approximation...
The average salary now has been reduced to ~£65k but the top of the range is £85k. The total Spad paybill in 2017 before these changes was £1.2m. 2020 is £876k based on 14 Spads.
Since this report additional Spads have been recruited into SF & DUP. Theres limited data for the past 22yrs but lets assume say 14 Spads in a typical year and an average salary of £75k historically.
So thats 14 Spads x 22yrs x £75k = £23.1m spent on Spads to date. ~£1m per annum on average. So while the paybill has reduced from £1m per annum to £876k that is prior to new Spad appointments which will push the pay ill up over £1m per annum again.
If we broaden this out beyond DUP, we have had 22yrs of MLAs (108 was reduced to 90). The total actual Assembly paybill in respective years (excl office expenses) was as follows:
98 £2.4m
99 £3.4m
00 £4.4m
01 £4.9m
02 £4.3m
03 £2.6m
04 £3.2m
05 £3.2m
06 £3.1m
07 £5m
08 £5.2m
98 £2.4m
99 £3.4m
00 £4.4m
01 £4.9m
02 £4.3m
03 £2.6m
04 £3.2m
05 £3.2m
06 £3.1m
07 £5m
08 £5.2m
09 £5.2m
10 £5.3m
11 £5.2m
12 £5.4m
13 £5.8m
14 £5.9m
15 £5.9m
16 £5.5m
17 £4.6m
18 £4.1m
19 £4.4m
So ~£100m on salaries over 22yrs. Office costs have ranged from £2.3-£5m per annum on top so can add ~ £60m in office costs onto this over 22yrs.
10 £5.3m
11 £5.2m
12 £5.4m
13 £5.8m
14 £5.9m
15 £5.9m
16 £5.5m
17 £4.6m
18 £4.1m
19 £4.4m
So ~£100m on salaries over 22yrs. Office costs have ranged from £2.3-£5m per annum on top so can add ~ £60m in office costs onto this over 22yrs.
The current median NI full time salary is £28k & an MLA is paid £51k, 82% 
the NI median. A Minister is paid £89k, 318% the NI median salary. FM/DFM is paid £123k, 439% the median salary. £123k would place FM/DFM in the top 1% of earners across the economy.
Worth it?
the NI median. A Minister is paid £89k, 318% the NI median salary. FM/DFM is paid £123k, 439% the median salary. £123k would place FM/DFM in the top 1% of earners across the economy. Worth it?
Lets look closer at FM/DFM. Foster is a solicitor by profession. The average salary of a solicitor is ~£30k in Belfast. So she is paid ~400% than she could expect as a solicitor.
than she could expect as a solicitor.
O’Neill was an accounting technician before poltiics. Lets assume she went on to qualify as a chartered accountant (a big leap but possible). Average salary for a Chartered Accountant in Belfast is ~£35k. So as DFM she is on 351% what she could expect outside politics.
what she could expect outside politics.
