The Office of the President is returning nearly €240,000 in unspent allowance fees during Michael D Higgins’ first term.
The president’s spending was a major discussion point during this year’s election campaign.
During the President’s campaign for election, he refused to release details of how he spent his unaudited annual allowance of over €317,000.
Today Áras an Uachtaráin revealed there was an underspend totalling €238,443 over the period of his first seven years. He only overspent in 2014 to the tune of over €4,700.
The figures reveal that most of the allowance went on food and beverages – an average of around €132,000 a year.
Hospitality and Entertaining averaged around €85,000 per year. The Áras says the overall underspend will be returned to the Exchequer by the end of the year.
