Ms Oonagh McPhillips:

The emails that were discovered most recently were as part of a process that started on Thursday, 9 November. The reason it started was because, as members are aware, of a series of parliamentary questions and press queries. To a large extent we did not have any information on the subject matter of the parliamentary questions and we were trying to figure it out. Then a parliamentary question was submitted that mentioned the specific date of 15 May so we went and looked at material on that date. People's diaries and email accounts were examined. The parliamentary questions were not about an email but they were about meetings that may have happened on that date. There was an examination to try and assist Deputies and try to prepare material for the parliamentary questions but it had not been obvious up to this point in time that that date was in any way significant to us.