7.—(1) A Minister, or special adviser, who holds a meeting with a third party about official business must take such steps as are reasonable to ensure that the meeting is attended by at least one person serving in the Northern Ireland Civil Service who is not a special adviser.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the meeting is for liaison with the Minister’s political party.
(3) In this section “third party” means a person who is not acting in the person’s capacity as—
(a)a Minister or a Minister of the Crown or a member of the Scottish or Welsh Government or a junior Scottish Minister,
(b)a Minister of the Government of Ireland,
(c)a member of—
(i)the Assembly,
(ii)the House of Commons,
(iii)the House of Lords,
(iv)the Scottish Parliament,
(v)Senedd Cymru,
(vi)Dáil Éireann, or
(vii)Seanad Éireann,
(d)a member of the Assembly’s staff,
(e)a person serving in any part of the civil service of the State,
(f)the Attorney General, or
(g)a member of the Attorney General’s staff.
(4) The duty under subsection (1) applies only so far as it is exercisable in or as regards Northern Ireland.