A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Probation and Welfare Service has found there has been no move to increase non custodial sentences in recent years as recommended by a review group in 1999.
The report also found the probation or community service costs around a third of the cost of keeping someone in prison.
It also states that the probation service was unable to promote the use of pre-sentence reports to judges because of a lack of resources.
It concluded that the service was also failing to meet its statutory obligations to the family law courts because of a lack of resources.
It found the effectiveness of the probation and welfare service was difficult to assess because of a lack of research on re-offending.
