The cost of running the Office of the President is set to increase by more than 5% next year to more than €4.8 million.
That includes a travel and subsistence allowance of €310,000, as well as training, development and incidental expenses of €340,000.
The gross pay bill for Michael D Higgins and his staff will rise by 2% to just over €2million.
Taxpayers are also expected to pick up a bill of €390,000 for office equipment and external IT services, while €2,540 centenarian bounties for citizens who reach the age of 100 are expected to cost €1.75 million.
A spokesman for Aras an Uachtarain said: “The additional funding allocated in 2022 is to provide for an increase in funding for the Centenarian Bounty scheme [driven by demographics] and the implementation of the public sector pay increases associated with the Public Service Stability Agreement.”
The total expenditure estimate for next year is €1.68million higher than it was in 2011 when Mr Higgins was first elected.
Since then, the budgetary estimate for training, development and incidental expenses has doubled from €170,000 to €340,000; while estimated travel and subsistence costs have increased by 148 percent.
The expenditure provided for in Budget 2022 is also €835,000 more than it was in 2017, when training, development and incidental expenses were expected to cost €295,000, and €310,000 was set aside for travel and subsistence.
While a breakdown of the €2million pay bill for next year is not yet available, a total of €912,000 was budgeted for the president’s household staff in 2020.
These included an executive head chef, a catering and services captain, an assistant chef, a cook, and up to 12 catering and services assistants.
Mr Higgins receives a reduced salary of just under €250,000 after continuing the practice of accepting a voluntary pay cut, which was started by his predecessor Mary McAleese.
He is also entitled to an annual allowance of €317,000 under the Presidential Establishment Act, which is not subject to external audit.
The unspent portion of this allowance from President Higgins’s first seven-year term – €238,443 – was returned to the exchequer.
