Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 December 2012
72. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which recidivism is being studied or monitored with a view to identification of a means to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54803/12]
View answerThe recently published recidivism report produced by the Probation Service was a joint project conducted in conjunction with the Central Statistics Office. This study, the first of its kind in Ireland, focused on a cohort of offenders under probation supervision and community service during 2007. The study has established reliable recidivism data on offenders under probation supervision and on community service orders and considers variations in recidivism as they relate to the type of original order, gender and age of offenders, category of offence and subsequent offence. Its findings show that the recidivism or re-offending rate was 37.2% for the particular cohort of offenders who were under probation supervision in the two years after their supervision ended.
I believe the value of the work that has been done to produce this report is that it provides a clearer overview of community sanctions outcomes which will better inform the work of the Probation Service in helping to make our communities safer. I look forward to receiving such evidence based material on an annual basis. The Deputy will also be aware that the Irish Prison Service facilitated a major study of prisoner re-offending by the UCD Institute of Criminology which was published in May 2008. The recidivism rate was found by this study to be under 50% after 4 years which is in the mid to lower range of recidivism rates when compared to similar countries internationally. The Irish Prison Service is currently working with the Central Statistics Office on a number of projects, including a comprehensive study of recidivism rates.
