Rates of recidivism are highest in young offenders
The recidivism rate reduces with age, according to new Central Statistics Office (CSO) probation figures.
For the 2013 probationers, 73.6% of offenders under 18 re-offended within three years, compared with 27.5% of those aged 45-64.
Reoffending rates, overall, are also decreasing slowly.
A total of 28% of probationers in 2013 reoffended within one year, down from a total of almost 36% of probationers in 2008 who did so.
Supervision
The CSO report shows that re-offending by those sentenced to probation supervision in 2013 was 45.3%, compared with 54.6% in the 2008 cohort.
Males are more likely to reoffend than females (45.9% for males compared with 41% for females for the 2013 cohort across a three-year period), but the gap between them is decreasing.
The majority of those sentenced to probation do not reoffend within three years of their sentence.
Close to three-in-ten offenders managed by the Probation Service reoffend within one year; and four in ten reoffend within two years.
Geographical variation
There is considerable geographical variation in the level of reoffending.
Data for the 2015 cohort shows that 16.7% of individuals with a Mayo address reoffend within one year, compared with almost half (49.1%) of individuals with an address in Westmeath.
Those with a burglary conviction are more likely to commit more offences, while sexual offenders are least likely to do so.
Community-service order
The report also shows variations, depending on whether the individual was sentenced to a community-service order, a probation order or post-custody supervision.
Overall, those sentenced to a community-service order were less likely to reoffend than those sentenced to a probation order (41.6% compared with 49.6% for the 2013 cohort over a three-year period).
Justice minister Charlie Flanagan said that the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015 was enacted as a response to repeat offending, and targets repeat burglary offenders through bail measures, and providing for consecutive sentencing for repeat offending.