s 52B Section 52A: duty to attend Council meetings etc
(1) It shall be a Ministerial responsibility of— (a) each appropriate Minister; or (b) if a Minister or junior Minister is nominated under section 52A(3) or (5) to attend a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council or the British-Irish Council in place of an appropriate Minister, that Minister or junior Minister, to participate in the meeting so far as it relates to matters for which the appropriate Minister has responsibility. (2) It shall be a Ministerial responsibility of a Minister or junior Minister nominated to attend a meeting of either Council under section 52A(7) to participate in the meeting so far as specified in the nomination. (3) Each appropriate Minister shall give to— (a) a person nominated under section 52A(3) or (5) to attend a meeting of either Council in his place; or (b) a person nominated under section 52A(7) to participate in a meeting of either Council so far as specified in the nomination, such information as may be necessary to enable the person's full participation in the meeting. (4) But if the appropriate Minister does not give sufficient information under subsection (3) to enable the person's full participation in the meeting— (a) the First Minister and the deputy First Minister acting jointly may request the necessary information; and (b) if they do so, the appropriate Minister must give that information to the person nominated. (5) A person nominated under section 52A(3) or (5) may enter into agreements or arrangements in respect of matters for which the appropriate Minister is (or the appropriate Ministers are) responsible. (6) Without prejudice to the operation of section 24, a Minister or junior Minister attending a meeting of either Council by virtue of any provision of section 52A or this section shall act in accordance with any decisions of the Assembly or the Executive Committee (by virtue of section 20) which are relevant to his participation in the Council concerned. (7) In this section “ appropriate Minister ”, in relation to a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council or the British-Irish Council, has the same meaning as in section 52A.