A Dublin councillor has said most local representatives are looking for pay restoration rather than a pay increase.

It comes after an Irish Independent report today claims that councillors are in line for 'pay hikes' of around €800 a year as a result of proposed reforms for their PRSI liabilities. That would amount to €4,000 over a five-year term.

Councillors - who work on a part-time basis - currently receive a gross salary of around €16,500 per annum.

Two local representatives spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about today's report, and discussed what sort of changes they would like to see to councillors' pay.

Dermot Lacey, Labour councillor for Dublin City, argued: "The story is completely inaccurate to be honest with you.

"There are two options before Minister Varadkar at the moment. One is the system of councillors receiving PRSI would remain, but that they would receive the same benefits as everybody else from it. And the second is an option that the PRSI payment would be abolished, but councillors would receive no benefits."

He suggested that the 'vast majority' of councillors want to continue paying PRSI, but are also hoping to receive the same benefits as other people.

"The notion of a €4,000 increase is one councillors are not advocating at all," he added.

However, he also stressed he would not object if Local Government Minister Simon Coveney decided to increase pay later in the year.

"No I won't oppose it, because I've always believed councillors should be paid properly," he suggested. "What councillors are now looking for is pay restoration [...] and to take into account the fact that the new local electoral areas are significantly bigger.

"The reality is most councillors - certainly in the Dublin area - are spending 20-30 hours a week working as councillors, and those figures seem to be replicated across the country. I do believe there is a need for reform of the system. I do believe we perhaps need to look at full-time councillors on a regional basis."

Kenneth O’Flynn, Fianna Fáil councillor for Cork City, also spoke to Kieran Cuddihy, and had a different view on the subject of pay restoration.

"Let's be very clear about it: when I was gifted the seat by the people of Cork in 2009, I knew exactly how much the salary was," he said. "I didn't get involved in politics to make money or to make a living out of it - I got involved in politics to change people's lives and help my local constituency.

"There's so many other things going on in all local authorities where we're cut to the bone [...] You've mentioned already the guards, the teachers, the nurses - and I think they should be prioritised. The frontline workers in city and county councils should be prioritised before we begin looking at any politician," he added.

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While they disagreed on the details, both argued there is a need for reform of the local authority system.

Councillor O'Flynn observed: "If we're going to really talk about reforming politics and changing politics, let's get rid of the 900 councillors that we have in the country.

"Let's bring it down to a reasonable amount of 300 people. Let's give them directly elected mayors, let's get members of councils heading up departments and being accountable the same as what they do in the United States and other parts of mainland Europe," he said.

He also cited examples in mainland Europe where full-time local representatives are paid around €37,000.

Councillor Lacey argued: "What I'm looking for is a decent, proper local government system in which the people who work in the local government system can actually live on the payments that are made so that they can perform their responsibilities properly.

"I want to see those councillors who need to engage in full-time work as a local government representative to have a reasonable model of payment. €19,000 for a 40-hour work [week] is not an unreasonable request [...] This is about pay restoration, not a pay increase," he added.