House Speaker says she will consult past speakers of the House on the matter
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Speaker of the House of Assembly Patricia Deveaux said yesterday that she believes it is time to review the provisions that deny the speaker and deputy speaker of the House from an MPs salary.
However, she said she does not believe the Parliament is ready to address the issue given the nation’s financial standing.
“What I propose to do is to do a study of one; how long the speakers have been making this potential salary that you are speaking of. I know that it has been in place for what I should say is a length of time — I don’t know whether it has been very long. But being a speaker now, it is more or less like a fraternity and I want to speak with past speakers first.
“I want to get them involved. While I do sit in the chair as chairman of the standing committee, I would appreciate from their past experience their input.”
Deveaux said she has spoken to former Speaker of the House Alvin Smith, who sat as chair during a historic resolution in Parliament, about the salaries for parliamentarians.
“It was changed when he took the chair, so it hasn’t been changed since then.
“But one of the things I think, and this is only my personal belief; this is not the belief of the committee, is the fact that we are member of Parliament, bearing in mind that we do hold firm to a constituency.
“So, while everybody else is afforded the constituency payout of the $28,000 for being [MPs], let’s look at the mare fact that some persons who sit around the Cabinet table:
“They make a different salary along with [the MP’s salary] — they would also make their $28,000.
“But that is the only thing the speaker is not entitled to.
Acknowledging the financial climate and the nation from an economic standpoint, Deveaux said she does not believe “they’re ready for that”.
“But over this term, I believe that is something — while we are a part of the standing committee that we are going to put into discussions; when this will be put in place, I don’t know because also on the record is the increase for members of Parliament, so why not have the increase for the speaker?
Her comments come as former Speaker of the House of Assembly Halson Moultrie recommended Parliament review an “unconstitutional provision” that denies the speaker and deputy speaker from receiving a MP’s salary.
The house speaker has an $80,000 per year salary, while the deputy speaker receives $32,000.
An MP’s salary is $28,000 per annum.
The minister of the government or prime minister and the deputy prime minister receive $86,000 and $79,000 respectively, in addition to an MPs salary.
Deveaux added that the expectations of the deputy speaker to hold the chair and perform the same duties, particularly during the committee of the whole for the committee stage of debate on legislative bills, warrants a review and increase of the deputy speaker’s salary.
