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Thursday, 21 February 2008, 18:47 GMT

Complaint over Paisley employment

A complaint has been made to the parliamentary standards commissioner about First Minister Ian Paisley employing his son as a researcher.

Ian Paisley Jnr was receiving a salary from his father's Westminster allowance of between £9,000 and £11,000.

He was receiving the payment as well as £62,000 a year for his posts as a NI junior minister and an MLA.

Commissioner John Lyon will examine the complaint before deciding whether it merits a full investigation.

Mr Paisley Jnr has been working as a research assistant for his MP father since 1998.

Meanwhile, East Londonderry MLA and MP Gregory Campbell has confirmed he is renting a constituency office in Coleraine from his wife.

Gregory Campbell

Mr Campbell is using assembly allowances to pay more than £12,000 per year to his wife for use of a property in the town's Bushmills Road.

Paying relatives for rent is not allowed under Westminster rules, but is permitted by rules governing Stormont.

Last weekend, it was revealed Ian Paisley Jnr was paying rent on a property owned by a company directed by his father-in-law.

A total of 27 family members are employed by the DUP.

DUP representatives who employ family members:

Gregory Campbell, wife (full-time);

Nigel Dodds, wife (full-time) and son (part-time);

Jeffrey Donaldson, wife (part-time);

William Hay, son-in-law (full-time);

William Irwin, daughter (full-time);

Nelson McCausland, nephew (part-time);

Ian McCrea, wife, (part-time);

William McCrea, son and daughter (full-time);

Michelle McIlveen, brother (full-time);

Adrian McQuillan, sister-in-law (full-time);

Maurice Morrow, sister-in-law (full-time);

Robin Newton, wife (full-time) and son (part-time);

Edwin Poots, wife (part-time);

Ian Paisley Snr, son (part-time) and two daughters (full-time);

George Robinson, son (full-time) and nephew (part-time);

Iris Robinson, son (full-time) and daughter-in-law (part-time);

Peter Robinson, son (full-time) and daughter (full-time);

Jimmy Spratt, wife (part-time);

Jim Wells, daughter (part-time).

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