A key feature of the Department’s Equality Scheme is a commitment by the Department to carry out impact assessments over a 5 year period on all its current and proposed policies, which significantly impact on the promotion of equality of opportunity and the promotion of good relations within the terms of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 . New and existing policies are therefore routinely screened for equality implications and if appropriate are added to the Region-wide Screening and Equality Impact Assessment Programme.