THE ORIGINS OF THE 1976 ACT
7. Although the Northern Ireland Government prior
to the introduction of Direct Rule in 1972 took some administrative
action on fair employment, fair employment legislation as such
has developed since the Northern Ireland Government was suspended.
A Government committee (chaired first by Paul Channon, MP, and
then subsequently by William van Straubenzee, MP) considered the
question of discrimination in the private sector of employment
and recommended that legislation be introduced.[8]
The recommendations in this report were partially accepted and
the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1976 was enacted. In
addition to applying to private sector employment, public sector
employment was also included. A Fair Employment Agency was established
under the legislation, which came into operation in 1977.
8 Report and Recommendations of the Working Party on
Discrimination in the Private Sector of Employment, HMSO, 1973. Back
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