Almost 30% of Irish men are considering getting a vasectomy, while 8% have already undergone the procedure, a new survey has found.

It was carried out as part of a new vasectomy awareness campaign by Irish Life Health. Currently in Ireland, the average age of men having this procedure is 40 and they already have two children.

The survey found that 28% of men were considering a vasectomy and the top three reasons for this were that they did not want any more children, they liked the idea of not having to worry about contraception or they felt it was time to relieve their partner of the contraceptive burden.

Following a successful vasectomy, there is a one in 3,000 chance of pregnancy, making it the most effective form of contraceptive currently available.

When asked why they would not consider a vasectomy, the main reasons given by the survey participants were that they wanted to have children in the future, they felt it was too permanent or they were afraid it would affect their sex lives.

However, vasectomies have no effect on libido or masculinity. In fact, many men report an increase in libido because they are not worried about an unintended pregnancy.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that 27% of men do not understand what a vasectomy entails, with one in 10 of these incorrectly believing that the testicles are removed.

"It's not surprising that most Irish men fear getting a vasectomy and I believe that's because there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about what the procedure entails.

"Vasectomies simply involve sealing the tubes that carry the sperm from men's testicles to their penis. A vasectomy is a minor surgical procedure, which causes a minimal amount of discomfort," explained Dr Phillip Kieran from RTÉ One's programme, You Should Really See A Doctor.

The procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic and takes only around 10 minutes to complete.

"Following the operation, men are still able to ejaculate, but the semen no longer contains any sperm," Dr Kieran added.

The survey involved 1,000 adults nationwide.

Irish Life Health is offering its members the opportunity to claim back money on vasectomy procedures across some plans. For more information, click here