The number of convicts who re-offend on their release from prison has fallen, according to new CSO figures.

The statistics office said the percentage of convicts reoffending within one year of release dropped from 54% in 2011 to 47.5% in 2018.

People released in 2018 were most likely to re-offend by committing public order or other social code offences.

Of those that reoffended, two-thirds were returned to prison on conviction.

Younger age groups continue to have higher custodial re-offending rates, with more than 80% of individuals aged under 21 re-offending within three years of being released.

John Lonergan, former Governor of Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, told Newstalk that the figures remain too high.

“I am depressed I suppose a little bit about it in the sense that, I would be expecting, with all the interventions that have taken place over the last ten or 15 years, that things would improve,” he said.

“I think the most-scary finding would be around the high percentage of people under 21 that are re-offending.

“It is very much age and maturity-related re-offending.”

Meanwhile, over a three-year period from 2015, 62% of people who were released from prison re-offended.

Of those released in 2015, those imprisoned for burglary had the highest likelihood of re-offending within three years.

43% of convicts who were handed a fine rather than a prison sentence in 2018 re-offended within one year.