Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the initiative taken by the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan. The Sinn Féin Party will be supporting the motion. We are very happy to support this great move by the Minister of State as we believe it will benefit indigenous companies in the sector that will be able to bid for contracts from ESO. We also recognise the significant benefits and opportunities that membership will bring to the academic, scientific and research communities. This is a positive move and it is something we are keen to see more of, in particular with CERN. I convey Sinn Féin's support for the Minister of State's proposal in this regard.

Will the Minister of State outline the value of the contracts that will be available to Irish companies each year as a result of our membership of the European Southern Observatory? What type of opportunities in the fields of research or study will come from our membership of ESO? Will Irish membership give us decision-making power in ESO?

I understand the special contribution fee of €14.66 million will be paid over a period of 11 years. I do not have a problem with that. Do the other member countries pay the same amount? Is the special contribution an additional fee to the cost of yearly membership? How much is yearly membership? Does the Minister of State anticipate that it might increase in the coming years? If the fee increases, how will it be worked out? In the unlikely event that we need to leave the organisation, how is that facilitated? Sinn Féin raised CERN in its pre-budget submission for the 2018 budget and will do so for budget 2019. Is there an update on the position in regard to becoming a member of CERN?