John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we are upfront with the committee. In the same way as with the European Space Agency, what we put in we get back. Associate membership would probably cost approximately €1.3 million but this would only allow us the same percentage return. This is my belief and I may be wrong on this. Importantly, the return from our €18.3 million annual investment in the European Space Agency has been continuously improving, as demonstrated by the value of the contracts in Ireland, which has increased from €13.9 million in 2017 to more than €21 million. There is no doubt in my mind that whatever investment we make in CERN we would get back. I have met most of the heads of the universities and institutes of technology in Ireland, who all advocate that we join CERN. It is a priority for the Department and the Government.