Long-sought pay rises for city and county councillors - expected to be in the region of €8,000 - will only be allowed if they are backed by wider public sector pay talks next year.
Minister of State for Local Government John Paul Phelan is expected to tell TDs of the stipulation at an Oireachtas committee meeting, saying councillors' pay increase calls will have to compete with rival public sector demands.
An 18-month Government-commissioned report by Senior Counsel Sara Moorhead, due next month, is expected to recommend a potential €8,000 increase to councillors' current salaries.
City and county councillors are paid €17,060 a year, in addition to unvouched expenses of between €2,286 and €2,667, and vouched expenses up to €5,000.
Ms Moorhead has been working on the report since June 2018 after repeated concerns were raised over pay levels among councillors and whether they should be increased.
The report was initially due in March.
However, it has been delayed until the end of the year, due in part to the complicated and delicate public nature of the issue.
Government sources said the final report is likely to recommend pay rises for city and county councillors in the region of €8,000 a year.
However, while Mr Phelan is expected to stop short of revealing an exact pay rise figure at the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government, he will say any increase must first be discussed at wider public sector pay talks and be balanced against competing demands.
A number of councillors decided not to seek re-election in May's local elections, saying they could not afford to keep living on a councillor's salary.
There are 949 councillors in Ireland, meaning a predicted €8,000 pay rise will cost more than €7.5 million a year.
