THE Alliance Party has said now is not the time for local councillors to receive a pay rise to bring them closer in line with MLAs and MPs.
The comments come after The Irish News reported on Saturday that a union representing councillors has written to the Department for Communities (DfC) calling for an "urgent review" of remuneration and benefits.
The Northern Ireland branch of the National Association of Councillors (NACNI) wants the review to re-examine councillors' pay and introduce severance entitlements.
There are 462 councillors across the north, who each receive a basic annual allowance of around £14,000.
The basic salary for MPs is £77,379, while MLAs usually receive £49,500, but this has been cut to £42,075 due to Stormont's collapse.
A further drop due in January will reduce their salaries to £35,888.
In response to the demands for "equality between councillors and other political representatives", the Alliance Party said there are more urgent priorities that must be addressed first.
“Given the level of public concern around the current state of politics in Northern Ireland, this is not the time for anyone to be making demands like these," a party spokesperson said.
"The timeline is already in place for a review of terms and conditions to be carried out in due course; however, there are clearly greater outstanding priorities that must be addressed by government departments – including focusing on health, education and ensuring politics is open, transparent and inclusive for all.”
The chair of NACNI and UUP councillor, Michael Henderson, said a councillor's salary should "reflect the work you're doing".
"We're not saying we want more money, we're saying we want a review carried out and proper judgement. We were promised this was going to happen," he said.
"We're not asking for anything that wasn't promised to us, but everything has stalled because there is no assembly."
The other four main political parties in the north did not respond to a request for comment.
