Opinion
29 Apr 26

Michael D. Higgins returns total of €2.6 million to Exchequer over course of two terms as President of Ireland

President Michael D. Higgins during a visit to the FINIRISH BATT HQ in South Lebanon.

The cumulative figure includes €1,310,491 in Oireachtas and Ministerial pensions, and €689,474 in pay, foregone, over the 14 years of his Presidency.

The former President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, returned a total of €2.6 million to the State over the course of his fourteen years as President.

In recent days, newly published figures show that the former President has returned to the Exchequer €384,467 of the 1938 Allowance allocated to him over the course of his second seven-year term.

This new amount is in addition to a previous return that came to €238,443 of the 1938 Allowance, and which was made by the then President to the Exchequer, following the conclusion of his first 7-year term.

Michael D. Higgins further gifted a total of €2 million to the State, comprising of €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 to the State of €2,622,875 over the course of his two terms.

The figures are contained in the newly published document, '2025 – A Year In Review', which details the work of Michael D. Higgins in his final year as President, from 1 January to 10 November 2025.

The report is available to view or download on the President.ie website and, along with the other such publications over the years, fulfils the commitment made by Michael D. Higgins during the 2018 Presidential election campaign to provide information to the public on his activities as President each year.

The 1938 Allowance, which is provided for under the Presidential Establishment Act 1938, and has been available to every President over the last 88 years, is used to meet additional costs not covered elsewhere in the President’s Vote and assists in enabling each President to define his or her Presidency.

Over the course of his two terms, President Michael D. Higgins used the allowance to support hospitality for the approximately 20,000 people that visited Áras an Uachtaráin each year (not including years impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic), State Dinners for visiting Heads of State, and the hundreds of events hosted by the then President and his wife Sabina at Áras an Uachtaráin each year from 2011 to 2025.