Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I speak with representatives of the fishing organisations all the time. After every significant decision at Council level, I meet the fishing organisations first, even before speaking to a journalist or anyone else, and I did this immediately after the final negotiating mandate for the Council was agreed. Essentially, that now is more or less what is in the CFP reform. We met representatives of all the fishing organisations that were present at that Council meeting and gave them a debriefing, as I always do. However, the leaders of all the key fishing organisations have my mobile telephone number. They ring me when they have concerns on a regular basis and the idea there is no consultation or no access to me from the fishing industry is simply untrue.

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