Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We talk about our waters but our industry, in the context of Brexit, takes 60% of its most valuable stock from UK waters. That is the concept behind the Common Fisheries Policy. It is about access to EU member states' waters. I appreciate the point the Senator makes, namely, that the industry got a bad deal on accession. I have heard this from the fishing industry on a number of occasions and I know it has a certain currency in the media also. The interesting thing is that the Common Fisheries Policy did not exist on accession. It did not exist until the mid-1980s, which was ten years after we joined. In fact, the Irish fishing industry on accession was, by and large, if not almost exclusively, operating inside the 12-mile zone. The industry today is multiples greater in size and value than it was when we joined. We have also managed to keep the quota as a public rather than a private asset.