Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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570. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if negotiations have taken place in regard to Ireland becoming a member of CERN; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25551/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Innovation 2020, the national strategy for research and innovation, recognises that in order for Ireland to become a Global Innovation Leader, our research and innovation system must be open with strong international collaboration links. Membership of leading International Research Organisations is an important mechanism for facilitating this engagement. For this reason, the Government gave a specific commitment in Innovation 2020 to initiate negotiations with CERN on Ireland's membership options.

Discussions with CERN commenced in 2016 and senior officials from my department, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland visited CERN in Geneva in July 2016. The Director-General of CERN, Dr Fabiola Gianotti, visited Dublin in October 2016 and met with the former Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. The information gathered during these engagements has provided my officials with a comprehensive understanding of the potential benefits of membership of CERN. While these benefits are significant, the cost of membership is also significant. Therefore, the case for membership of CERN must be assessed in the context of other investment priorities.

Regrettably, in view of the intense demands on the capital programme and the tight fiscal constraints it will not be possible to progress membership of CERN in 2018.

Ireland will be joining the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in October 2018, with a capital allocation obtained specifically to ensure Ireland's membership. This will cost €0.75 million in 2018 and increase to approximately €3.5 million in 2019. We will keep the issue of CERN membership under review and it is my hope that we may be in a position to progress CERN membership in the future, when the fiscal situation permits.