Nearly half of prisoners released in 2012 reoffended, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said 45.6% of inmates released were convicted of another crime within three years.
While the rates of recidivism decreased with age, those under 21 were found to be 73% likely to reoffend.
Of these, two-thirds were likely to be convicted again within one year.
The stats, released yesterday, do not come with a breakdown of the nature of the original crimes.
A CSO spokesman said: “Together, public order and theft offences account for over half [51.6%] of subsequent reoffences [for the 2012 cohort of offenders].
"The analysis indicates that, broadly speaking it is the same offence group which is the biggest single category for the first reoffence, however the majority of first reoffences are of a different type to the original offence.
“The rate of reoffending by males is higher than that by females, though the gap has increased over time.
“Persons under 21 who serve a prison sentence are three times more likely to reoffend than those aged over 50.
“The rate for those under 21 was 72.3% in the 2012 cohort and 73.1% in the 2011 cohort.
“For those over 50 the rates were 23.3% and 23.8% respectively.”
Fiona Ni Chinneide, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, called for more to be done for prisoners after their release.
She said: “What happens immediately outside the prison gates is critical. Put simply, if someone is released from prison into short-term hostel accommodation or homelessness, the outcomes are less likely to be positive.
“We are calling on Government to introduce a statutory obligation across departments and agencies responsible for housing, health, social protection, education and jobs to co-operate around prisoner release.
“This will reduce reoffending and make communities safer.”
