It began two weeks ago after it emerged that some vehicles had been equipped with a device that cheated emissions tests in the US.
The company told RTÃ‰ that customers will be contacted about what it called its "action plan to correct the emissions characteristics of certain diesel vehicles".
The recall will involve 34,387 Volkswagen passenger cars, 16,485 Audi cars, 4,365 SEAT cars, and 16,004 Skoda cars.
The recall will also include 8,107 commercial vehicles sold under the Volkswagen brand.
In a further clarification, the company said an additional 30,000 cars may be recalled.
These are understood to be imported second-hand cars.
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The company is to set up an online service for customers to check if their car will be affected.
The company says the process of correcting the emissions will begin shortly, but said that all vehicles are "technically safe and road-worthy".
Earlier on Thursday, Volkswagen announced it was suspending the sale of 4,000 vehicles in the UK in the wake of the emissions scandal.
The company said the vehicles may be equipped with the same device that cheated emissions tests in the US.
The move will involve vehicles across the VW group including the VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands.
The company said it was a temporary measure and that it intended to return the vehicles for sale once a fix is identified for the cars.
The cars taken off the market represent 3% of VW's stock in the UK.
Volkswagen has announced that it is recalling 80,000 cars sold in the Republic of Ireland as a result of the emissions scandal.