The Government has announced ring-fenced funding of €400,000 for consent education at third-level institutions.

This is to deliver on recommendations from an expert group for consent at third-level.

Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, said: "Sexual violence and harassment has no place in our institutions.

"It is unacceptable that any student, researcher or staff member should experience it.

"Through the development of this framework, I believe we can escalate an institutional culture change on our campuses.

"Institutions have a duty of care to their students and staff and this framework is about instigating change. I want the results to be comprehensive and game-changing."

She was speaking on Friday as she launched the Framework for Consent in Higher Education Institutions.

It aims to ensure the creation of an institutional campus culture which is safe, respectful and supportive.

It has been developed by an expert advisory group made up of academics, students and leaders in the area of sexual health among students.

The funding of is to be made available over the period 2019/2020 to assist institutions.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has also announced a partnership with USI and COSC Smart Consent in NUI Galway.

This will see a full-time postdoc student overseeing the delivery of a national survey on experiences by students about experiences of sexual harassment and rape.

The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) has welcomed the launch of the new framework and the provision of funding.

NWCI director Orla O'Connor said: "We know that women aged 18-29 experience sexual violence and harassment at the highest rates.

"Therefore there is an onus on the higher education Institutes to do everything possible to prevent and protect young people and embed a zero tolerance approach to sexual violence and harassment.

"At the heart of this approach is collaboration and the need for broad cultural change. The new framework creates a map for how this can be achieved."

The four key outcomes of the framework will be effective structures in place - with institutions assigning responsibility by a management team member to implement the framework, as well as recording and reporting of statistics of incidents.

There will also be institutional policies consistent with the aims of the framework, with "clear lines of responsibility reporting, transparency and implementation" supported by institutional leadership.

And targeted initiatives for students and staff - including direct student facing activities that promote an understanding of consent, an education plan to support students and staff and systems for measuring the effectiveness of initiatives.