Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (the Act) places the following statutory requirements on each public authority:
(1) A public authority shall in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity- a) between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation; b) between men and women generally; c) between persons with a disability and persons without; and d) between persons with dependants and persons without.
(2) Without prejudice to its obligations under subsection (1), a public authority shall in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group