McAleese pledges to cut Áras spending

President Mary McAleese has pledged to cut household spending at Áras an Uachtaráin by 12.5 per cent.

Mrs McAleese has already taken a 10 per cent pay cut in her €325,508 salary and is now targeting savings in day-to-day running costs at her Phoenix Park home.

“It’s nip and tuck everywhere, to be honest, including walking around the Áras turning off lights,” the President told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland. “You can’t be in a position of public leadership and be immune from what is going on around.”

Although the State is constitutionally barred from cutting the President’s annual allowance of €317,435, Mrs McAleese told the Department of Finance in September that some 12.5 per cent of the Áras budget will not be spent.

The allowance is partly used to fund receptions at the Áras, including dinners, lunches, visits by dignitaries and diplomats and special recognition days such as the Twelfth of July garden party. About 15,000 invited guests attend the Áras each year.

It also helps cover the cost of the President’s travel and hotel stays around the country.

Mrs McAleese announced a 10 per cent pay cut last October, a day after the salaries of Government ministers and senior civil servants were cut in the supplementary budget.