President's pay rise query sparked official probe

An inquiry from President Patrick Hillery about whether he was entitled to a pay rise under the national wage agreement sparked an investigation into his expenses, official files reveal.

The late head of state’s personal secretary telephoned the Taoiseach’s office in 1978 to check if his salary and allowances had risen the same as that of workers around the country.

A Government official brought the unusual query to the attention of the then Taoiseach Jack Lynch. In a memo, the aide wrote: “It is a bad state of affairs when the President is reduced to enquiring whether he got the National Wage Agreement increases.”

After a flurry of correspondence between the Taoiseach’s and President’s offices it was decided to investigate the costs incurred in running Aras an Uachtarain.

It was found that President Hillery was on IR£19,451 (€24,697) a year at the time, his salary being set by law as 10% more than that of the Chief Justice, to include annual increases.

But the yearly allowance for household, staff and entertainment expenses had not changed since it was laid down five years before by the Presidential Establishment Act in 1973.

“The allowance of IR£15,000 (€19.046) per annum is obviously totally inadequate at this stage,” an official in the Taoiseach’s office insisted.

According to the papers, released this week into the National Archives, President Hillery said he had doubled the salaries of his staff since taking office two years beforehand.

This was coming out of his expenses and he suggested a Government department should pay their wages. But this option was ruled out by a special committee, involving representatives of the Taoiseach, the President, the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Service, set up to probe the allowances.

It sought out a breakdown of all staff, household and entertainment expenses including costs of small weekly cocktail parties and twice-weekly tea parties.

In one note, the committee was told that there was very little money spent on official entertainment because there was no money available for it.

“The person to be satisfied in all of this is the President, and the onus is on us to invite the President to give his views, rather than waiting until he, as it were, begs us to improve the situation,” an official in the Taoiseach’s department stated.

It was finally agreed to increase the annual allowance to IR£35,000 (€44,440) and an amendment was drawn up to the 1973 Presidential Establishment Act which set the allowance.