Mr. Simon Murray:

The quota issue is far more complicated than that because we have the tonnage and kilowatt system. If we were to try to create the worst system ever and multiply it by ten, that is the one we would create. It is the most complex anyone has ever touched or tried to sort out. There are people the length and breadth of the country whose heads are wrecked by it. It is not user-friendly and is for larger boats. Whether the Department with responsibility for the marine wants to hear it, the country is built on small boats engaged in inshore fishing. There is no point talking about it here because it would take an entire debate to sort it out, but the kilowatt and tonnage system and the quota system need to be far more user-friendly to enable traditional inshore craft which operate up to ten, 15 or 20 miles out to be given the tonnage required under Irish law to operate. Currently, huge boats from other countries - we all know where - are fishing inside our limits. If I have my train of pots 15 miles out, they plough straight through it, clip the two ends of the buoys and €5,000 worth of fishing gear disappears overnight. There is no control over the system which is certainly not helping the Irish citizen. I would describe it is a fiasco.