James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have another, different type of question for the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, on subhead B6, international organisations. I read through the briefing notes, and I am delighted that LOFAR is getting support to turn on the telescope. It is a great example of best in class Irish scientific research, and the team at LOFAR have been really successful. I appreciate the Government and the Minister of State's support for Ireland joining the European Southern Observatory, ESO.

Looking to the year ahead, the next issue that I will be raising relates to the European Centre for Nuclear Research, CERN. We have lost out by not being a member of CERN to date. Many of our best and brightest have been denied the opportunity to contribute and collaborate. Indeed, some of those who are doing related work cannot submit the results of their work to be analysed through the various CERN systems. I believe they may get there through colleagues internationally, but it is case of operating on a favours basis to access some of the computational systems there.

The Minister and I had a very productive visit to the European Space Agency approximately one year ago. In the same way, the ESA has a return on investment. I believe that €7 comes back for every €1 that is spent.