Hazzard’s correspondence was disclosed Friday in a commissioner’s report into alleged media leaks.

This followed a complaint from Brown about BBC News NI inquiring about Hazzard’s email earlier this year.

The commissioner’s 129-page report reveals that there was an “unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.”

Brown said he was pleased that the committee investigated the breach and put safeguards in place for the future, but he was disappointed that the origin of the breach was not identified.

Sinn Féin MP Carál Ní Chuilín, chair of the standards committee, said measures had been introduced to “further strengthen its confidentiality procedures”.

She said it was “imperative that the confidentiality of complaints be respected until the review, investigation and resolution of the complaints is completed.”