The majority of college students are dissatisfied with the sexual health education they received at school, according to a survey carried out by a research team at NUI Galway.
In a survey of 2,150 students, 71% of women and 63% of men said they were not satisfied with the sexual education they received at school.
According to the survey carried out by the NUIG SMART Consent research team 15% of women and 20% of men were happy with the education, with the remainder neutral.
In a survey of 632 third-level students, 54% of women in first year, 64% of second years and 70% of third years reported experiencing sexual hostility or crude gender harassment at some point since starting college.
The comparative figures for male students were 25%, 37% and 40%.
The figures are included in a report, 'Are Consent Workshops Sustainable and Feasible in Third Level Institutions?', which was launched by Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O'Connor.
In a statement, she said: "It is a timely piece of research given that the National Council on Curriculum and Assessment is carrying out a major review of the relationships and sexuality curriculum."
Earlier this year, the Department of Education ordered a review of relationships and sexuality education (RSE) in schools to take into account "the needs of young people today".
Among the areas it will examine are consent, and what it means, and developments in contraception.
The review will cover both the content of the curriculum, as well as its delivery in schools.
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The survey also found that a greater proportion of gay, lesbian and bisexual students felt that the sexual education they received did not cover topics they are most interested in, compared to their heterosexual peers.
Ms Mitchell O'Connor described the findings as "troubling".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said it was important to know what was going on in Ireland's Third Level institutions, which, she said, should be safe places of learning.
The minister described the current system for supporting these students as "ad hoc" and said it was now up to her as minister to "join the dots".
"We need to make sure what we roll out right across our Third Level institutions is a uniform minimum standard, and what we've seen is that workshops seem to work within that university sector."
