Cork County Council is writing to health minister Simon Harris to ask him to investigate the sale of drugs online.

The letter, requested by Independent Councillor Noel Collins, is being written from the council to the minister about the drugs that Mr Collins said that are often sold by organised gangs.

Mr Collins said: “Many parents of young people complain to me regularly about the abuse of online prescription drugs, which is a major problem and one that has gone unnoticed, as it often takes place behind closed doors.”

Mr Collins said that experts have been warning for years about the growing problem of people using the internet rather than seeing a doctor.

“In many cases, members of the public are self-diagnosing and then ordering drugs online to treat conditions that may or may not be what they think. The cost of a doctor may be a factor.”

Mr Collins also said that people are importing anabolic steroids, injectable tanning, and weight-loss drugs which cannot be legally sourced here.

Warning about the lack of regulation, Mr Collins said there is no way to check the quality of these medicines.