Former President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, has returned a total of €2.6 million to the taxpayer over the course of his fourteen years as head of state.
In a statement, the former president and Galway West TD says he has returned €384,467 to the Exchequer this week. This money formed part of a special allowance presidents may spend as they see fit to define their seven-year term.
He previously returned €238,443 of this allowance following the conclusion of his first term in 2018.
This ‘Presidential Allowance’ was introduced in 1938. It was last set at £250,000 in 1998, and is currently worth €317,433.96 per year.
Michael D Higgins further gifted a total of €2 million to the State, comprising €1,310,491 in Oireachtas and ministerial pensions, and €689,474 in pay over the last 14 years.
Combined with the returns of the 1938 Allowance, these figures represent a return of €2,622,875 to the State over the course of 14 years.
Michael D, and his wife, Sabina Coyne, retired to their family home in Rahoon late last year. The former politician has donated his presidential archive to the University of Galway.
The figures are contained in the newly published document, 2025 – A Year In Review, which details Michael D Higgins’ activities in his final year as president, from January 1 to November 10, 2025.
Publishing these figures fulfils a commitment made by Higgins during the 2018 presidential election campaign to provide publicly available information on his expenditure in Áras an Uachtaráin.
The 1938 Allowance, which is provided for under the Presidential Establishment Act (1938 ), has been available to every president over the last 88 years. It is used to meet additional costs not covered by funds voted by the government of the day.
Over the course of his two terms, President Higgins used the allowance to support hospitality for approximately 20,000 people who visited Áras an Uachtaráin each year, excepting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It contributed to state dinners for visiting leaders, and hundreds of events hosted by him and Sabina in the Phoenix Park each year.
