The salaries for MPs and Senators should also be indexed, possibly to the Consumer Price Index, Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira told The Royal Gazette .

The question was how big an increase the committee should recommend, Dr.

Terceira said.

"Having not had any raise whatsoever in six years, what is happening is that the salary has eroded in value to each Member of Parliament by 30 percent,'' he said.

The committee, made up of four United Bermuda Party and three Progressive Labour Party MPs, had only met twice. But, "I expect a consensus that there will have to be an increase,'' he said.

"We'll have to do our homework as to what is fair.'' Currently, the base pay for an MP is $24,600, while Senators receive $16,400.

The Premier, Cabinet Ministers, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate President are among those who receive extras.

Dr. Terceira said he expected public protest no matter what the committee recommended.

"Throughout the world, salaries for Parliamentarians are always controversial,'' he said. "People generally don't want to pay Parliamentarians. It's historical.'' There was a huge outcry when a double-digit increase was approved six years ago. At that time, the pay had again not been increased for several years.

"It doesn't make sense to do it that way,'' Dr. Terceira said. "I think we should index it.'' Some had suggested indexing Parliamentary salaries to increases received by the Bermuda Public Service Association. But since those increases were negotiated with Government, "it might be seen as a conflict,'' he said.

"It might be perhaps better to just do it on the CPI and review it every five years.'' The committee, which is to report to the House through Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul before the end of June, is also charged with reviewing the Parliamentary pension scheme.

The pension fund is underfunded. Parliamentarians pay 9.5 percent of their salaries into the fund, an amount matched by Government. It is likely an increase will be recommended.

The pension fund was created in 1988. Before that, retired MPs were paid out of the consolidated fund.

While he agreed he was handling a hot potato, Dr. Terceira said he was prepared for criticism. "These are jobs someone has to do,'' he said.

"Sometimes they want to kill the messenger.

"It's not just one person's report. It will be a report of seven people.

Sometimes with select committees you get a majority report and minority reports. I'm not anticipating that at the moment.''