The Midland Health Board will be asked later this month to set up a confidential telephone line for parents worried about their children becoming involved with drugs.
The proposal came from the Laois-Offaly TD John Moloney, who believes if the drug problem is not faced up to in rural Ireland, it will destroy the fabric of society.
"I want a telephone help centre staffed by professionals, including the gardai, where parents can get and give confidential information on drug dealers in the area," he said.
Moloney, who has been highlighting the growing drug problem in the midlands, said his fears were confirmed at the Garda conference in Co Donegal last week.
"I have been saying for a long time that there is a drugs problem of one kind or another in every village and town in rural Ireland and the gardai confirmed that last week.
"I do not want to be seen as jumping on a bandwagon because this is too serious an issue to play politics or anything else with, but I know this to be true and it was the most common fear expressed to myself and other people out on the canvass during the local government election campaign," he said.
"There is a big problem out there, especially with `E'.
"I know that in the Eastern Health Board area, they say that things would be much better if they had got ahead of the problem of heroin before it became so bad in the area.
"I believe that all the resources of the State should be put behind resolving this problem before it gets out of hand." He said he would be proposing a confidential telephone line where parents could check the names of known dealers if they feared their children had become involved in drugs.
"I also want more support for the gardai. I want the local guard to have more back up in the fight against drugs," he said.
Mr Moloney said a special report on the abuse of substances in the midlands is being prepared for members of the Midland Health Board for consideration at the next meeting.