Áras an Uachtaráin to return nearly €240,000 in unspent allowances

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.

During the election campaign, President Higgins 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.