Almost a third of all discrimination complaints to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission were about disability this year.

The figures for 2016 come as Ireland remains the very last EU member state left to ratify the key UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Government has committed to passing it into law in early 2017.

Commissioner Emily Logan says more work is needed:

"It's about being much more sensitive to providing goods and services to people with disabilities in Ireland.

"And by that I mean is, we want to move away from what is seen as an old, paternalistic approach towards working and equally treating people with disabilities. So instead of seeing them as passive recipients, that they are active participants and equal partners."