Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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437. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the rate of recidivism in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29413/26]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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This Government remains focused on reducing re-offending, including by diverting people, where appropriate, 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 was 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.

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 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.

Budget 2026 provides a 13% increase in funding for the Probation Service, allowing for the recruitment of 100 additional staff. This additional funding will also be used to increase the use of supervised community sanctions in the criminal courts, expand restorative justice services, and expand supervised temporary release schemes nationally.

Strategies which are being employed to reduce recidivism rates and ensure successful reintegration of prisoners into society include the JARC (Joint Agency Response to Crime) and Y-JARC (Youth-Joint Agency Response to Crime), both multi agency initiatives involving the Probation Service and An Garda Síochána for the purposes of the joint case management of prolific offenders.