I wish to ask the Taoiseach about CERN. I raised the matter with the Taoiseach a number of weeks ago on what is the Government's position on joining the international research programme.

As the Taoiseach may be aware, 23 member states across Europe are members of this organisation, with Ireland being the exception in terms of membership in western Europe. Will the Government give some consideration to joining CERN, given the multiple benefits? We welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, back to the House. Under the Minister of State's leadership at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation, an in-depth report was undertaken while we were in opposition with regard to the benefits of such a move. I ask that the Government would show some consideration to this, given the extraordinary progress that has been made in this programme, and the multiple benefits of Ireland's membership for our academic community in Ireland, for our engineering science and for research.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will talk to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, about this. I would be an advocate for joining CERN. Obviously, there are competing priorities within the Department but I believe it would be advantageous to the country, particularly given our need and our desire to be at the forefront of research and development in technology and innovation. I will certainly pursue the matter with the relevant Ministers in respect of Ireland joining CERN.