James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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74. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she is considering advancing Ireland's efforts to join CERN; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31261/17]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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75. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the levels of engagement between her Department and the governing bodies of CERN. [31262/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Innovation 2020, the national strategy for research and innovation, which was launched in December 2015, recognised that membership of International Research Organisations (IRO) is an important, strategic aspect of Ireland’s international collaboration in science, technology and innovation. Such engagement is a prerequisite for Ireland to become a global innovation leader.

Ireland is a long-standing member of the European Space Agency, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the European Molecular Biology Conference, EUREKA, COST and CECAM. As part of the ongoing implementation of Innovation 2020, Ireland joined ELIXIR, the European data infrastructure for the life sciences, in July 2016 and Ireland will join the International LOFAR Telescope, the European radio astronomy collaboration, in July 2017.

Innovation 2020 contains an action to initiate negotiations with CERN on Ireland's membership options.

In January 2016 the then Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English T.D, wrote to the President of the CERN Council, Professor Sijbrand de Jong, in order commence the process. Discussions between my department and CERN have been ongoing, at both official and Ministerial level, ever since.

Senior officials from my department, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland visited CERN in July 2016. The Director-General of CERN, Dr Fabiola Gianotti, visited Dublin in October 2016 and met with my predecessor as Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

The information gathered during these engagements has provided my officials with a comprehensive understanding of the potential benefits of membership of CERN. However, while the potential benefits of membership of CERN are significant, the cost of membership is also significant.

The cost for Ireland to become a full member of CERN would be approximately €15 million per annum. Alternatively, Ireland could become an Associate Member for 10% of this of cost (€1.5 million per annum). However for Associate Membership, there would be a commensurate reduction in the benefits available, for example, access to contracts for enterprise.

The case for membership of CERN is being assessed in the context of other investment priorities and no conclusion can be reached before the national budget discussions for 2018 are concluded. My objective is to ensure that we obtain the best overall return on our investment in research and innovation.

Additionally, the case for membership of CERN has been considered in the overall context of the Mid-Term Review of the Capital Plan, which covers the period 2018-2021. The Mid-Term Review will be completed before the end of 2017 at which point I expect to be in a position to make a recommendation regarding Ireland's membership of CERN.

In the event of a positive assessment and recommendation, a Government decision would be required in order to progress membership of CERN.