Ireland makes significant economic gains from overseas aid particularly through the sale of goods and services, and the generation of employment. The authors, economists with Jim Fitzpatrick and Associates, argue that these benefits reduce the real costs to Ireland of overseas aid, but not that they equal or exceed them. This means that the primary case for ODA remains the altruistic or humanitarian one, but that the economic costs of such altruism are less than they may appear. The article is based on research commissioned by Trócaire.