A day after taking fire from two Massachusetts lawmakers over the use of non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said the practice is "just part of doing business."

DeLeo, D-Winthrop, made the remarks after a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and said none of the agreements were used to handle sexual harassment complaints, according to the Boston Globe and the State House News Service.

The issue of non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements surfaced on Thursday when a state representative took to the House floor and decried their use, calling them "silencing tactics."

Rep. Diana DiZoglio of Methuen said she was breaking the agreement she signed years ago when she was a State House aide and faced harassment. She said she signed it "under duress" when told she would not receive severance pay unless she put her signature on the document.

She received support from Rep. Angelo Scaccia, a fellow Democrat who quoted the lyrics of the Simon and Garfunkel song "Sound of Silence" and taunted DeLeo, telling the speaker to come out of his office just off the House floor.

The two lawmakers' comments - in riveting speeches on the House floor -- were a sharp rebuke of DeLeo. Above them in the gallery, State House aides leaned forward in their seats to watch a rare instance of dissent play out.

DeLeo issued a four-page statement saying he was "deeply troubled" by DiZoglio's statements and was not aware she experienced harassment or was pressured to sign an agreement. "No member, officer or employee of the House of Representatives should be subjected to the sort of treatment described by Representative DiZoglio," his statement said.

DeLeo's office said Thursday that since January 2010, there were 33 individuals who were offered a "small severance payment in exchange for executive a written agreement."

"None of these agreements were to settle complaints of sexual harassment, but rather a formalized process for providing terminated employees with a modest severance benefit. Since Speaker DeLeo was elected Speaker, the House of Representatives has not paid any money to settle a complaint of sexual harassment/misconduct brought against or by any member, officer, employee or third party," DeLeo's office said.

But in his floor remarks, Scaccia said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey should look into the use of the agreements. Healey's office declined to comment on Thursday night.

DeLeo's office released a statement after DiZoglio and Scaccia spoke, saying their allegations that the House attempted to cover up wrong-doing were based on "irresponsible speculation."

DeLeo's office added that House lawmakers enacted a rule that waives any non-disclosure or non-disparagement provision of any existing agreement with House lawmakers, officers or employees before Thursday.

"The House along with outside legal counsel conducted a through independent review of our entire human resources function," his office said. "The review revealed deficiencies in our current function and those deficiencies were rectified with today's vote."

House counsel met with Healey's office as part of the review. According to DeLeo's office, "The review did not identify any reason to notify the Attorney General, much less require the Attorney General to conduct a review, nor did anyone raise a reason to do so today."

The Massachusetts Republican Party seized on the allegations and dissent, and noted it came a year after lawmakers voted to give themselves pay raises.

"Yesterday proved that Democrats are incapable of running the Legislature in an orderly and civil way," Kristen Hughes, Mass. GOP chairman, said in a statement.

"Given this chaotic state of affairs, it's not surprising to see the House descend into disorder, with a senior Democrat calling on the Democrat AG to investigate their Party's own House Speaker," she said. "The people of Massachusetts deserve better than this."