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25th August 2021
09:09am BST

He said that he hopes the results of the study will provide a sense of direction to the rollout of future sexual consent education by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
Indeed, the results of the survey are concerning, and point to the need for a robust educational programme on sexual consent to be delivered to every secondary school in Ireland. The fact of the matter is that non-consensual sexual activity is harmful, dangerous and illegal. There is no room for neutrality - let alone disagreement - on the issue.
Moreover, there is strong evidence to suggest that consent-centric sexual education is highly effective in improving students' understanding of the issue. For instance, Dr MacNella said that students who enroll in their Active* Consent Programme emerge with a better understanding of consent.
The programme sees students take consent workshops, but it also involves parental webinars and teacher training.
The Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon spoke about the impact consent-based sex education can have.
He said: "The Active* Consent programme indicates that we are making progress in confronting what is not only a complicated issue, but an extremely important one for developing positive relationships and reducing sexual harassment.
"The programme will equip secondary school students with self-confidence to speak up if there is something happening that they are not comfortable with."
However, he added that there is still "a long way to go".