Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

801. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she has raised the UK's future membership of the European Space Agency with her UK or EU counterparts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11350/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The European Space Agency is an international organisation with 22 Member States from both within and outside the European Union.  The Agency operates independently of the European Union and the United Kingdom’s membership of ESA is not dependent on its EU membership. The UK Government’s White Paper on Brexit notes that the United Kingdom was a founding member of ESA and that it recently committed €1.4 billion to research and development in this sector. The United Kingdom’s policy is to continue to be a member of ESA after it leaves the European Union.  I have not, therefore, raised the issue of the UK’s future membership of ESA in any forum.