As the countdown to the new Fermanagh and Omagh Council (FODC) comes to an close, councillor allowances for the new body plan for the Chairman to take home an allowance of £24,200.

The Scheme of Allowances Payable to Councillors report, considered at a Policy and Resources committee meeting, recommends that councillors receive a basic allowance of £14,200 per annum.

It states that the chairman of the council should be provided with an additional £10,000 per annum on top of the basic councillor allowance, while the vice-chair should receive £5,000.

For the period ending March 31, 2016, the committee chairs for Environmental Services, Regeneration and Community, and Policy and Resources will receive a SRA of £3,200 while the chair of the Planning Committee will receive £4,200.

Each member for the Partnership Panel for NI will receive a SRA of £1,000.

Sinn Fein’s Group Lead of the Partnership Panel will receive £2,000. The UUP Group Leader will receive £1,130. SDLP’s Group Leader will receive £1,060 while the DUP Group Leader will receive £850.

The Independent Group Leader will receive £500.

The new chairman of FODC is Sinn Fein’s Thomas O’Reilly and the vice-Chairman is the DUP’s Paul Robinson.

Additional allowances for councillors of FODC include a Dependents’ Carers Allowance, (which can be claimed when arranging care of children or dependents in respect of the performance of any approved council duty) and a Travel and Subsistence allowance which can be claimed for: • public transport fares • motor mileage rates • supplements • taxi fares • air fares • day fares • day subsistence allowances • overnight subsistence allowances • car parking There is also a Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) in addition to the Basic Allowance, payable to members who have “significant additional responsibilities over and above the generally accepted duties of a councillor”.