Nothing impressive about returning expenses

It seems we are meant to be impressed that former President Mrs McAleese returned about €500,000 in unspent personal allowances to the State.

Is it because she normally would have been expected to say nothing and keep that money? In the same way that members of the Oireachtas, councillors and MEPs all claim the maximum possible level of expenses ‘because they can’ and not because they incur those expenses?

Before we get carried away with Mrs McAleese’s generosity in returning our own money, it’s worth pointing out that over her 14 years as President, she received a post-tax salary of about €250,000 every year, which adds up to about €3,500,000 over her two terms.