You could win one of two €100 One4All vouchers. (5–10 minutes)
Take our short Customer Satisfaction Survey and tell us how we can improve. You could win one of two €100 One4All vouchers. (5–10 minutes)
Following the publication of the fifth Review of the Quality of Crime Statistics in October 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has lifted the 'Under Reservation' categorisation around Recorded Crime Statistics. This is possible because An Garda Síochána have introduced a range of quality measures over the last number of years which have resulted in sustained improvement in the quality of the underlying crime data. These changes give a level of assurance to users that they can rely on Recorded Crime Statistics.
For further information see our Lifting of Under Reservation categorisation for Recorded Crime Statistics FAQ page.
This chapter outlines some more details about individuals who re-offended within three years of release from custody, and who secured a court conviction within a further two years.
Figure 2.1 below shows the time periods and process of establishing these re-offending indicators for the prison re-offending of individuals released in 2019 (three-year re-offending). The three-year re-offending period refers to individuals released in 2019. The time period for a re-offence to occur is three-years (2019 to 2022) and a further two-years are left for court decisions (convictions/acquittals) to take place.
.png)
Note: Fine sentences are conditional custodial sentences in which custody is avoided when a fine is paid to the court by the convicted offender.
More than three-quarters (78%) of individuals aged less than 21 who were released from custody in 2019 re-offended within three years of release. In addition, over two-thirds (68%) of individuals between the age of 21 and 25 also re-offended over the same period of time following their release. In total these two age groups represented just over one-fifth (898 out of 4,026) of the overall number of individuals released from custodial sentences in 2019 (See Figure 2.2 and Table 2.1).
Individuals released from custody for Public Order offences consistently rank highly in re-offending estimates when compared with other offence groups. In 2019, three-quarters (75%) of individuals who were released from sentences in relation to this offence category were convicted of a re-offence within three years. The lowest level of re-offending was seen in relation to individuals released from sentences related to Homicide & Related offences (27%) or Sexual offences (27%). The largest number of individuals released in 2019 were released from sentences related to Theft (813 of 4,026 in total). From this category nearly seven in ten (68%) re-offended within three years of release (See Figure 2.3 and Table 2.2).
Note: The offence type relating to the custodial period that individuals are released from does not always correspond to the same re-offence type for the individual. Table 2.3 of this release provides details of three year re-offence types.
One-fifth (470 out of 2,296) of all individuals who re-offended within three years of release in 2019 re-offended in Public Order related offences and just over four out of ten (84 out of 193) of these re-offenders were also released from custody that related to the same offence group. In contrast, just over one in ten (26 out of 226) of individuals released from custody in relation to offences linked with Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assault, Harassments & Related offences re-offended in the same offence type (See Table 2.3).
Slightly more females (60%) than males (57%) re-offended within three years of release from custody in 2019, although just 382 out of the total 4,026 individuals that were released in 2019 (9%) were female (See Figure 2.4 and Table 2.4).
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.