The Galway Rape Crisis Centre had over 3,000 appointments over the past year with victims of rape and sexual assault, with victims aged from as young as 14.

That's according to Cathy Connolly, Executive Director of the Galway centre.

Figures published in the Irish Independent yesterday showed that almost 50 students reported incidents of rape or sexual assault in Galway in the past 6 months.

Ms Connolly says these figures are not uncommon, as every Rape Crisis Centre in the country would be dealing with similar numbers of victims.

She's particularly concerned about first-year students in college, leaving home for the first time, and says the issue of consent needs to be discussed with teenagers in second-level education.

The Galway Rape Crisis Centre is involved in a pilot programme being introduced to Transition Year students in a number of schools in relation to consent.