Gender inequality is still seen as the greatest source of discrimination in the workplace, according to the Equality Authority's first annual report.
Gender discrimination accounted for almost 60 per cent of the 202 cases taken under the Employment Equality Act last year.
Of the 120 cases taken on gender grounds, 21 were from women who claimed their dismissal was related to their pregnancy.
Another 21 cases related to equal pay, while 20 cases were sexual harassment claims.
Mr Niall Crowley, the Equality Authority chief executive, said this was worrying as these were not new issues.
"It is disturbing to see their persistence despite over two decades of legislation in this area," he said.
Cases taken on disability grounds accounted for 13 per cent of complaints under the Act, second only to gender grounds. Of the 27 disability cases, 13 were taken on grounds of access to employment, while five people claimed their dismissal was related to their disability. The majority of these cases were taken by men, and were in the Dublin area.
Meanwhile, 11 per cent of cases under the Employment Equality Act were taken on the grounds of age discrimination, while racial discrimination accounted for more than 7 per cent of cases.
Of the 10 cases taken on grounds of sexual orientation, six claimed their dismissal was related to their sexual orientation.
Almost half the cases initiated under the Equal Status Act to date were on behalf of Travellers. Access to housing, shops, and pubs were the main complaints made by Travellers. This proportion of cases is set to rise to 70 per cent by the end of the year, according to the Equality Authority.
In its first year of operation, the authority dealt with 9,318 queries, 44 per cent of which concerned issues of parental, maternity and adoptive leave.
Another 40 per cent dealt with the provision of goods and services.
The largest award made in a case involving the authority was that of Dr Noreen Gleeson, who challenged the Rotunda Hospital and the Mater Hospital on gender grounds. The Labour Court found she had been discriminated against in an interview process and was more qualified and experienced than the successful applicant. It awarded her £50,000.
In another case, a former trainee receptionist was awarded £3,000 after the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI) found the training body CERT had discriminated against her by insisting she wear the standard female uniform at interview. It did not accept there was any objective reason for all female trainees, apart from chefs, to wear dresses.
Introducing the Equality Authority's report yesterday, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said he would be reviewing the Employment Equality Act "with a view to assessing whether there is a need to add to the discriminatory grounds".
The authority has proposed that issues such as past criminal conviction, political opinion and trade union membership be included as grounds for taking an anti-discrimination action.
Cases under equality legislation can be taken on nine grounds. The only one not to generate a complaint yet is discrimination on the grounds of family status.
