Cork County Council has urged anyone who paid money to a former council employee to obtain a driving licence to contact them immediately and take steps to acquire a licence through the proper channels.
A spokesman for the council said last night that anyone using a licence which had been obtained improperly could face serious problems in terms of civil law and insurance.
Gardai in Cork have confirmed that a former council employee is the subject of an inquiry into the sale of driving licences to people who failed their driving tests.
A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. It is understood motorists and motorcyclists were offered driving licences for £200.
Some drivers who had not failed their driving tests and had valid licences were able to buy permits giving them the authority to drive lorries and buses.
It is suspected that as much as £10,000 might have been realised by the employee in question.
Cork County Council investigators are believed to have ascertained that more than 50 false licences to drive ordinary vehicles, and as many as 16 licences permitting drivers to handle heavier vehicles, were issued during the period when the former county council employee was operating.
In order to check the figures, computer records were studied to review thousands of licences and to authenticate them.
Garda sources suggested that people seeking licences were put in touch with the county council employee by certain car dealers, who suggested to them that someone could get a licence if they made contact.
The matter first came to the attention of the local authority last August, and an inquiry was launched immediately.
Detailed checks were made by the local authority, and the garda authorities began to speak to motorists who might have availed of false licences.
It is understood that people who purchased false licences, and those who put them in touch with the former county council employee in question, could face prosecution under a number of Acts.