Three fisheries protection officers have been suspended by the Southern Regional Fisheries Board for refusing to drive patrol vehicles marked with the board's logo.
The officers, who are suspended without pay, are claiming the marked vehicles pose a risk to their health and safety, exposing them as a target for attacks in particular areas.
The fisheries board, which introduced the logos in January, claims they are "an important element in increasing awareness of the vital work of the board in conservation, fishery protection and tourism development".
Its chief executive, Mr Brian Sheerin, said the board had undertaken a formal risk assessment on the use of logoed vehicles and concluded there were no grounds to suggest that they posed a risk to staff.
"The assessment in fact concluded that the use of vehicles clearly marked with the board's logo contributes to the safety of staff and acts as a deterrent against assault. The safety of staff is of paramount importance to the board which has equipped all officers with mobile phones and vehicles with two way radio communications," he said.
He added that there had been no attacks on staff in any county since vehicles with logos were introduced. There had been just one incident in which a wing mirror was damaged, he said.
Mr Sheerin also said a number of colleagues of the suspended officers, who are based in Fermoy, had no problem driving vehicles with logos.
SIPTU branch secretary Mr Nicholas Parker, who represents the suspended staff, said the three officers genuinely perceived they would be in danger of being attacked in certain areas "with a history" if they drove into them in vans with logos. The area they are refusing to patrol is along the river Blackwater, west of Mallow which includes towns like Kanturk and Newmarket.
Mr Parker has called on the Labour Relations Commission to intervene. "We are very upset and angry because we offered to drive unmarked vehicles while the dispute was being referred to a third party but the board refused," he said.
SIPTU will ballot its 30 fisheries officers in the Southern Regional Fisheries Board area on strike action next Friday.
Mr Sheerin said the suspensions, which came into effect at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, would be reviewed next Thursday. "I am going to try every possible way to try and get a solution that is acceptable," he said.
In the meantime, he said, the river Blackwater, west of Mallow, and other waterways lie exposed to illegal fishing and the threat of farm pollution.