Review of how sex education is taught at all levels

Consent and contraception are to be central elements of a review of sex education in schools ordered by Education Minister Richard Bruton.

He has directed that these and a number of other issues be considered in detail as part of an overhaul of relationships and sexuality education (RSE).

He wants the RSE curriculum for both primary and second-level schools to be examined extensively as part of wider reviews of education. What teenagers are taught in the first three years of second level is already encompassed by the ongoing reforms of junior cycle being phased in since 2015.