Higgins spends over €300,000 on guests at Áras An Uachtaráin

President Michael D Higgins spent more than €300,000 of his annual allowance on entertaining guests in the 14 months to December 2019 but came in under budget, a report by Áras An Uachtaráin outlines.

All presidents are entitled to an “annual presidential allowance” of €317,000 per calendar year. This is to meet additional costs not covered elsewhere in the budget of the Áras and “assists in enabling each president to define his or her presidency”.

In a review of the work and scope of the Office of the President of Ireland, published on Wednesday, Áras An Uachtaráin said the total spend of the allowance was €334,748 out of a total allowance for the 14 month period of €370,340, leaving a surplus of €35,592.

Mr Higgins has said he will return any unspent allowance to the exchequer at the end of his term.

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From the allowance €175,226 was spent on food and beverages, €118,573 on hospitality and entertainment and €13,875 on transport, gifts and related costs. The report said 22,307 people visited the property during the period.

Furthermore, €13,764 of the allowance was spent on representing Ireland abroad, while books, research, stationary and postage came to €13,310.

In terms of Áras An Uachtaráin overall, it came in under budget at €3,565,000, although the figure was up slightly on the €3,499,000 spent in 2018.

There was €1.7 million spent on salaries, wages and allowance in 2019, which was unchanged from the year before. The cost of travel and subsistence more than halved from €184,000 to €87,000.

Training, development, and ICT (information and communications technology) came to €327,000, which was down from €352,000 in 2018. Post and communications totalled €64,000, which was down from €87,000.

The office also spent €1.3 million on the centenarian bounty, which was up from €1.1 million the year before.

The centenarian bounty relates to people who have reached their 100th birthday and receive a gift from the State of €2,540 as well as a special message from the President of Ireland, wishing them a happy birthday and congratulating them for their longevity.

This is the first time such an annual review has been published since the presidency was established in 1938. In 2018, the Áras published a review of the activities of the President’s first term, covering the 2011-2018 period.