Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Senator knows, the reply I delivered is not from my Department. The Senator spoke about knowing the price of everything, but the relevant Department values research and international collaboration. We saw how important that is during the pandemic. Ireland, as a progressive country, should be able to take its place at the forefront of what is happening around the world. As I said, four organisations were identified, namely, CERN, the European Southern Observatory, ELIXIR and LOFAR, and membership of three of these organisations has been completed. Ireland is continuing its consideration of CERN membership. I suspect there are some difficulties regarding costs or something like that. I suspect negotiations are ongoing. I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I think negotiations in terms of costs are ongoing. I will bear in mind the Senator's comments about Oscar Wilde's definition.