At the same time, Mr Warmington is lobbying for the removal of some perks received by retired prime ministers and governors general.

We, at this point, have no comment on Mr Warmington's proposal, which he previously brought to the legislature during the last Parliament, but fell off the Order Paper because of last month's general election.

However, as we noted when the matter of Mr Andrew Holness' pension became an issue because of the brevity of his period as prime minister, this newspaper believes that the more fundamental issue calling out for attention is how Jamaica pays its legislators, and for what.

Differing pay scales

Mr Warmington's concern is that any person who became prime minister since September 2007 is entitled to a pension of two-thirds of - it used to be equal to - the salary of the sitting head of government, but has a range of staff and other things paid for by the State. The same applies to retired governors general.

Regular MPs, on the other hand, receive pensions at two-thirds of their highest rate of salary.

The pay of ministers, traditionally, has been linked to those of their permanent secretaries, with a small differential because of rank. Similarly, regular MPs' pay is linked to those ministers, with the appropriate gap because of the latter's portfolio responsibilities.

The problem, though, is that the public is often sceptical about any increase in salaries to parliamentarians. They question whether it is deserving, which is sometimes understandable, given Jamaica's long economic underperformance.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the legislature, even when the salaries of public servants are increased, is often embarrassed when voting itself an increase. Indeed, in recent years, hikes were either delayed or, in some instances, pressure was brought on members to give back a portion of the increase.

The fact, though, is that, as we have long insisted, Jamaica's parliamentarians are underpaid. While we accept that morality cannot be legislated or bought, we believe that this circumstance makes legislators more vulnerable to corruption and graft.

Performance-based salaries

In this context, we feel that there is a need for a system that takes the matter of salary adjustments out of the hands of the legislature and for their salaries to be performance-based.

In this regard, the report of the Clarke Committee, of nearly a decade ago, provides a starting point for serious discussion on this issue. That committee proposes linking increments to MPs to inflation, but capped by the average inflation in Jamaica's major trading partners. Additionally, parliamentarians would receive incentives for achieving specific performance deliverables in their constituencies.

In addition to the criteria outlined in the Clarke report, which is still on the website of the finance ministry, The Gleaner Council, a broad-based group of well-thinking experts, recently issued guidelines that should help MPs structure their work. These, too, should be urgently discussed by the Parliament.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.