likely report to the House of Assembly on June 17, its chairman said yesterday.

Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira would not say what was recommended by the select committee, made up of four United Bermuda Party and three Progressive Labour Party MPs.

But he dismissed comments from National Liberal Party chairman Mr. Gilbert Darrell that MPs did not deserve a raise.

"That's because they don't have anyone in the House, and probably never will,'' Dr. Terceira told The Royal Gazette .

"We're getting to the stage of producing a report within a few days,'' Dr.

Terceira said yesterday. "We're pretty clear in our minds where we are at.'' In April, Dr. Terceira said he expected the committee would recommend an increase, which would be the first in six years.

He also said the salaries should be indexed, possibly to the Consumer Price Index.

The current base pay for an MP is $24,600, while Senators receive $16,400. The Premier, Opposition Leader, Cabinet Ministers, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate President are among those who receive extras.

Dr. Terceira's committee is also charged with reviewing the Parliamentary pension scheme, which is underfunded.

In a news release yesterday, Mr. Darrell -- who lost the lone NLP seat in the October general election -- said Bermuda's MPs did not deserve a pay increase.

Parliamentary work was "voluntary'' and "part-time,'' Mr. Darrell said. MPs and Senators were not expected to live off their Government incomes, he said.

Despite that, the salaries that MPs were paid "is equal to and reflects the one and only income for many workers who must work 40 hours a week and be accountable to someone,'' Mr. Darrell said.

The pay worked out to $461 a week, "equal to the full-time wages of sales or office clerks,'' he said. "We need not mention jobs that pay less.'' Cabinet Ministers were paid an extra $24,000, he said. Their salaries worked out to $923 per week, or "what may be paid to a senior accountant for a full week's work.

"Members, at least some, take appointments to the Cabinet overzealously, as they attempt to run their departments, apparently overlooking the well-paid civil servant who is responsible for running that department.'' In total, Bermuda's 51 legislators received between $1.5 million and $1.

7 million a year, the NLP leader said.

An increase should not be approved because of the number of unemployed on the Island and because many workers had received no pay increase in three to four years. Also, "self-indulgence is very wrong,'' he said.

Rather than MPs setting their own salaries, the Governor should appoint a Parliamentary Remuneration Review Board composed of non-Parliamentarians, he said.

THE HON. CLARENCE TERCEIRA -- The chairman of a committee studying Parliamentary pay.