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A woman who represents victims of institutional abuse said they were left "deeply hurt and saddened" after too few politicians turned up to hear her make a briefing.

A Stormont committee session was abandoned on Wednesday because there were not enough members to make a quorum.

Fiona Ryan, the commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Abuse, finally got to speak to the Executive Office committee on Friday.

She acknowledged the members' apology.

But she added: "We all live in the real world where things happen.

"But at the same time, I would be neglectful if I didn't convey to this committee the deep hurt and upset of survivors at what happened on Wednesday.

"And I think it's important for all of us, in this space with a real commitment to working in this area, to understand that for many survivors they've had a lifetime of their experiences being denied or minimised and their reality being rejected. And they've spent a lifetime carrying a burden that was never theirs to take on."

She said what occured this week had, for many of them, "brought up those feelings again".

"But I know that your apology and the apology of the committee will go a long way to at least acknowledging that hurt," she said.

She said that what happened had been a "missed opportunity" and she was glad to "have the opportunity to recapture" it.

Committee chairwoman Sinead McLaughlin of the SDLP told members that while she knew what happened was unintentional "a really serious discourtesy was shown to a very vulnerable stakeholder group".

She added that the committee had been damaged as well.

Vice chairman, Ulster Unionist John Stewart, said what happened was "very poor" and "disappointing".