Timing of first sexual encounter: Nearly a quarter of young people express regret 

In research by the ESRI and HSE, a third of 17-year-olds reported that they had sexual intercourse.

Nearly a quarter of young people expressed regret over the timing of their first sexual encounter, new research conducted by the ESRI and the HSE has revealed.

Young women were more likely to experience this regret when compared to young men, with 31% of women reporting regret and 16% of men feeling the same way.

The research also revealed that 33% of 17-year-olds said they had had sexual intercourse.

Nearly 90% of young people who have had sexual intercourse reported using contraception when first having sex.

Young people who had discussed sex and relationships with their parents at age 13 were significantly more likely to have used contraception during their first time.

In contrast, those mainly reliant on their friends as a source of information had lower levels of contraceptive use for their first time.

For those that were sexually active, just under 80% reported that they 'always' used contraception, and 56% reported using a condom 'all the time'.

The research, conducted by the Health and Wellbeing research programme, also showed young women are more comfortable speaking to their mothers about sex and relationships, while young men found it easier to talk to their fathers, but still found it more difficult than their female peers; 60% of young men found it difficult or very difficult to talk to their fathers about sex.

At 13, parents and family were the main source of information about sex, but by 17, friends were the most common source of information (at nearly 50%).

At age 17, nearly a quarter of young men and 20% of young women said the internet, TV, films and books were their main source of information about sex. 

Four in ten 17-year-olds also had not spoken to their parents about sex and relationships.

Relationships and sexuality education (RSE) delivered by schools was also an important resource for young people, however, the research found that there was significant variation across individual second-level schools.

The survey found that 55% of young people aged 13 reported they received RSE at school, and 92% of 17-year-olds said they received this type of education.