Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has called on TDs to support a new bill, which would mandate a 25% pay cut for TDs and senators while the country is in lockdown.
He is calling for all parties to support the bill, given the number of people out of work.
The Meath-West deputy said several colleagues have praised New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, after she and her cabinet took a 20% pay cut.
But he told Newstalk Breakfast they are not willing to follow suit.
"I've seen the optics of the political class using the words that 'we are all in this together' - if you or I had a euro for every time that sentence was used by a politician, we would be very rich people at the moment.
"I've seen the political class in Ireland laud the government in New Zealand and laud Jacinda Ardern during COVID.
"Yet when I raise the issue that we should follow her example and take a pay cut during this crisis, the same TDs put their heads down."
Deputy Tóibín said despite the current pandemic and economic downturn, the Government is still topping up salaries.
"We have a situation in this country where hundreds of thousands of people have been made unemployed, hundreds of thousands of other workers and businesses have had their incomes completely trashed - yet at the same time, TDs are receiving pay increases, judges are receiving pay increases."
"Yesterday I was in the Finance Committee with the Fianna Fáil Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath, and he defended an 80,000 pay rise for the [Secretary-General's] job in the Department of Health, on a salary that was already €210,000".
"I'm asking TDs to show solidarity with the people that they're making decisions for".
Deputy Toibin said this pay cut should include President Michael D Higgins, and "the whole political class".
He added: "We've a situation where this country has a €19bn deficit last year, we're going to be adding €35bn on to our national debt as a result of this particular crisis."
He said this would result in a national debt of €239bn, "which is one of the highest national debts per capita".
