Significant numbers of older people do not want to be forced to retire, a report by the Equality Authority suggests.

Its annual report reveals that, for the first time, age was the most common ground for cases it took under the Employment Equality Acts, but overall disability was the most common ground for complaints taken up by the independent watchdog.

Concerns about maternity protection prompted the authority's most frequently answered queries last year, but allegations of ageism generated almost a quarter of its Employment Equality case-files.

CEO Niall Crowley said the files showed that significant numbers of older people do not want to be forced to retire, but the authority's largest caseload was of allegations that employers and service providers failed to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities.

In one case, a local authority was ordered to pay over €6,000 in compensation for discrimination and to build an extension to a council house suitable to the needs of a child with autism or to re-house the family in alternative suitable accommodation.

Age Action welcomed the report.

'While it is regrettable that so many workers had to resort to the Equality Authority last year, it is a positive sign that older workers are no longer willing to accept this form of discrimination which is widespread in Ireland,' Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins said.

A two-year Age Action research programme concluded that compulsory retirement ages should be abolished; in-company age awareness training should become a routine part of good HR practice; employers should examine part-time working and flexible work arrangements available, not just for older workers but for all staff; and older workers should benefit equally from access to training and courses should be more geared towards their professional and personal development.