Sir Christopher Kelly, in his call for an end to double-jobbing - the practice of taking seats at both Westminster and Stormont - makes it clear that the practice should end sooner rather than later.

Although he said the final cut-off point for ending the practice should be 2015, it is evident that he believes 2011 is the preferred option. His argument is compelling and the 16 Northern Ireland MPs who are also members of the Assembly should take note.

Sir Christopher raises the question voiced by many other observers - can political representatives sitting in two legislatures really do justice to both roles? Even those who are not closely versed in the work of Stormont and Westminster realise that representing the electorate in either House is a very challenging role. To attempt to carry the double workload - and to do it effectively - is surely too onerous.

As the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive beds down and members face up to the immense challenges ahead, mainly involving balancing the books in what will be very financially-straitened times, the workload of MLAs is bound to increase. With services being squeezed due to the tightening of the public purse strings, they will have to come up with more inventive ways of ensuring that the day-to-day life of the province functions properly.

Members have been set another challenge by Sir Christopher. He proposes that they should phase out the employment of relatives, paid for out of public funds. While no-one is suggesting that those currently employed are not fit for the jobs they hold, there is something distasteful about entire political families - or several members of such families - benefiting from public tax payments.

There is now no excuse for further prevarication on these issues. Sir Christopher is echoing the views of the electorate and the politicians will ignore his proposals at their peril.