A former government minister last night called for a review of all court cases brought by two senior officials of the Southern Fisheries Board, who were recently dismissed from their jobs.
Mr Austin Deasy (FG, Waterford) said that grave injustices might have been done to "good, decent people", arising from cases which the two inspectors conducted between 1980 and 1995.
He said there were allegations that the fishery inspectors assaulted people who subsequently lost their fishing licences. Mr Deasy also claimed that if the fishermen did not pay bribes for information as to when fishery patrols were going out, they were "persecuted".
He wanted to know why the two men were dismissed, and called for a review of all cases they dealt with in which drift-net fishermen were convicted of illegal fishing.
The Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Hugh Byrne, said the Government had no direct function in the case, which was the primary responsibility of the Southern Fisheries Board.
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