Mr. Joe Hackett:

Two people there that evening were on maternity leave. Both of them were essential members of the UN policy team and essential to our ultimate success. One of them had just gone on maternity leave and had the baby three days afterwards. One of them had recently had a baby and was nursing. That is why the baby was there. Both of them were essential members of that team. They came in of their own volition. They were not asked to come in.

However, it is an important part of our maternity policy in the Department that women on maternity leave can remain connected with the workplace. That, in turn, is an essential part of our gender equality strategy. As we acknowledge in the report, I cannot sit here and say that their presence there that evening was for an essential purpose. I acknowledge that but, equally, I was not prepared to make a negative finding about them. It would have been detrimental to what we are trying to do in gender equality in the Department and a disservice to two outstanding people who were vital to our success.