President Mary McAleese will formally close the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All in Ireland at a ceremony in Dublin Castle today.
The event will include people from Government agencies, business networks and trade unions who participated in various activities throughout the year aimed at promoting equality in the work-place and in the provision of services.
They will review the progress made so far, and discuss how to achieve a lasting legacy for the Europe-wide series of initiatives, according to Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, which is organising the event.
"There is a need to review the legislation we have at the moment, and develop it to bring it up to the level of best practice at European level," he told The Irish Times.
That included a positive duty to promote equality and fight discrimination, and to ensure State policies as well as State services did not permit discrimination.
He pointed out that the Central Statistics Office had found that only 10 per cent of those who suffered discrimination made complaints. There was a need to invest in information and strategies to make the existing equality legislation work.
It was also necessary to acknowledge the inequalities that still existed, including the lack of partnership rights and civil marriage for same-sex couples, the unequal burden of caring on men and women, and upper age limits for certain kinds of health provision.
"There is a need to build and renew our ambition for equality, not just of opportunity, but of choices and outcomes," Mr Crowley said.
Pilot schemes in the Departments of Education and Health, aimed at mainstreaming equality, needed to be extended so that all policies would be assessed for their impact, Mr Crowley added.