Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
840. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any initiative that seeks to target recidivism within the prison system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39986/26]
View answer841. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any initiative that seeks to target recidivism for former prisoners at a community level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39987/26]
View answer842. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any analysis carried out into rates of recidivism for former prisoners of the Irish Prison System; the way in which this is categorised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39988/26]
View answer846. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the recidivism rate for Irish prisoners; if statistics are available into the level of reoffending within six months, one year, three years and five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39998/26]
View answer847. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any analysis into the recidivism rate for Irish prisoners; if there has been any marked change in the levels of reoffending within the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39999/26]
View answer848. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any analysis into the recidivism rate for Irish prisoners, specifically a comparative analysis into reoffending rates for those former prisoners that participate in rehabilitation programmes compared to those that do not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40000/26]
View answer852. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if any comparative analysis is carried out to compare the way In which other countries approach recidivism rates for prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40004/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 840, 841, 842, 846, 847, 848 and 852 together.
This Government remains focused on reducing re-offending, including by diverting people, where appropriate, away from the criminal justice system and ensuring the underlying causes of offending behaviour are addressed.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) regularly publishes detailed statistical information on both prison and probation re-offending rates. The latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) study of one- and three-year prison reoffending rates, can be found in the Prison Re-offending Statistics 2022 report published on www.cso.ie in September 2025. The prison re-offending statistics measure the level of recorded re-offending by offenders who received a custodial sentence following their release from prison.
One-year prison re-offending rates for individuals released in 2022 indicate that 44% re-offended within a year after being released from custody, a rise of 2%, with the highest reoffending category being people convicted of public order offences or theft. Overall, there has been a reduction in one-year prison re-offending of 6% since 2012.
Probation Reoffending Statistics for 2021, which were published in February 2026, showed that just under one-quarter (24%) of offenders who received a probation order in 2021 re-offended within a year, a fall of 3% when compared with the equivalent rate for 2020 (27%). This is the lowest re-offending rate measured since 2008, when the first estimates of probation re-offending were calculated.
In addition, in November 2025, the CSO published its ‘Re-offending by Detected Incidents 2024’ report, which calculated detected re-offending rates using offences recorded as a PULSE crime incident. A detected re-offending incident is a crime incident that has been recorded on PULSE where an individual that has been identified as a suspect has also been identified as a suspect in a different historical incident also recorded on PULSE. The report is available on the CSO website (www.cso.ie).
The Prison Service and my Department continue to focus on maximising opportunities for rehabilitation in order to reduce reoffending. A range of policies have been developed to achieve this, including through the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform, which includes increasing the use of alternatives to custodial sanctions where appropriate, and the recommendations of the High-Level Taskforce to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those who come into contact with the criminal justice sector.
