Dr Niamh Maguire of South East Technological University (SETU) and Professor Nicola Carr of the University of Nottingham were commissioned by the Department to examine the impact of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011.

Their 102-page report, published yesterday, notes that the use of imprisonment — including short-term prison sentences — has continued to rise since the 2011 Act was introduced.

“Available evidence suggests that CSOs are not currently acting as an alternative to custody as has long been their policy intention,” it states.

“There is some evidence from this study and previous research to show that as it currently stands the CSO does not occupy a position on the penal continuum that accords with where judges would typically position them.

“Judges associate CSOs with rehabilitation and position them as an appropriate sanction between fines and before imprisonment.

“At the same time, judges perceive there to be too few penal options occupying this position and no penal options for petty persistent offenders other than short prison sentences.”

Under the 2011 Act, a CSO can only be imposed in a case where the threshold for custody has been met.

Reducing this threshold “would most likely lead to an expansion in the use of CSOs for offending that would not have made the threshold for custody in the first instance with no concomitant reductive effect on the prison population”, the report says.

Instead, it suggests “properly resourcing CSOs so that they are available and responsive to the specific needs of persistent offenders with multiple difficulties… may potentially increase CSO uptake and reduce reliance on short prison sentences”.

Sentencing guidelines on the use of CSOs in lieu of prison sentences and on the sentencing of persistent offenders who commit minor offences may also help to increase uptake, it adds.