A total of 41 MLAs have employed a relative through their Stormont allowances, a new list of Assembly members' interests confirmed today.

The register of interests published on the Assembly website provides information on the finances of all 108 Stormont politicians, including earnings from outside their public roles.

And while much of the information was already in the public domain, Assembly members said they hoped the publication of the register, in line with a new code of conduct for MLAs, would help improve transparency.

The move came as Sinn Fein today pre-empted the launch of a report next week, which is expected to include information on MLAs' future wages, by declaring the party would not support any pay rise for politicians.

The Register of Members' Interests was published by the Assembly's Standards and Privileges Committee and its chairman Declan O'Loan said it would ensure politicians' private interests did not clash with their public role.

"Openness at the Assembly is essential to ensure public confidence. I therefore welcome the publication of the new Register of Members' Interests which further increases transparency at the Assembly," said the SDLP representative.

Assembly members are asked to reveal any extra earnings they make, directorships they might hold, or gifts they have received.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams confirmed additional earnings in his role as an author and a contributor to a newspaper group. The register records him as having received £9,600 in a year, involving an average of 18 hours work a month.

All MLAs were asked to register ownership of properties other than their family home. Mr Adams recorded his Donegal holiday home, writing: "Residential property owned jointly with my wife in the twenty-six counties."

DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson listed his additional properties as being an apartment in London, a house in Florida and a Constituency Office in east Belfast which he said are owned jointly with his politician wife, Iris Robinson.

He declared his earnings as including £64,766 as an MP and £71,434 as First Minister.

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey confirmed that in his role as Employment Minister he received £37,801, with an extra £9,738 remuneration for his work as a Belfast city councillor.

In addition to his MLA salary, the Alliance leader David Ford recorded £9,738 as a councillor in Antrim.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan confirmed his earnings of £64,766 as an MP, and confirmed he employed his wife on a part-time basis in his office.

PUP leader Dawn Purvis had little to declare, but confirmed two overseas political engagements, and said she received two tickets to see Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley with the Ulster Orchestra.

The online record carries twelve sections of information on each MLA. A total of 41 elected representatives confirmed they employed a relative in some capacity through their Members Allowance, though most political parties had already volunteered the number of their representatives who employed a family member.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein said a Senior Salary Review Board (SSRB) recommendation to increase the wages of MLAs will come before the Assembly next week as part of a wider report.

The party's Assembly chief whip Caral Ni Chuilin said: "This entire report is being brought forward for consideration by the Assembly with no opportunity to vote on each and every specific recommendation.

"To support this report in its entirety would therefore force us to support the recommended wage increase. "

She said her party opposed pay rises and added: "That is something we will not do - particularly in this time of social and economic hardship."