The Government has sought to defend the compromise deal on the fishing industry.
In a further defence of the agreement, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Ahern, has departed from his Government advisory group's assessment of Ireland's overall share of quotas.
Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, he denied that Ireland only had 4 per cent of the quota despite having 11 per cent of EU waters.
"On average we would have somewhere in the region of 19 per cent of stocks, which is a long way from the 4 per cent which is often quoted," he said.
His own review group on the Common Fisheries Policy, chaired by Mr Padraic White, has stated Ireland has a quota of 4.4 per cent from its 11 per cent of the EU's Atlantic waters - the majority of which are on the Continental Shelf and which provide some of Europe's most productive fishing grounds.
A spokesman for the Minister said Mr Ahern was referring to quotas secured for the stocks allocated to Ireland. The 4.4 per cent figure related to overall stocks, including species which Ireland would not target, the spokesman said. He added that the Minister was "not being disingenuous".
However, Mr Sean O'Donoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation, said he "couldn't believe" what he had heard the Minister saying on RTÉ, and accused him of "totally distorting the figures".
The Minister says he secured key priorities "against all odds" after five days of intensive negotiations. These included a 5 per cent overall reduction in quotas.
Mr O'Donoghue said his calculations showed there was a 9 per cent cut overall in whitefish quotas and a 7 per cent reduction in pelagic (mackerel, herring, blue whiting and scad) quotas.
