Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheannaire as ucht an tOrd Gnó a leagan os ár gcomhair. As the Leader knows, last week the Taoiseach met Pat Finucane's wife Geraldine and their son John and unequivocally supported the family's demand for a public inquiry into the murder of Pat. In this Chamber, the Minister for Foreign Affairs endorsed that Government support and the Seanad unanimously supported the family's call for a public inquiry. John attended the Seanad debate and he spoke personally at last week's Good Friday Agreement committee about the loss of his father and the impact of his murder on his mother and his family. Yesterday, the British Government rallied around to protect and defend those in the British Cabinet who sanctioned the murder of Pat Finucane through collusion over 30 years ago. Reacting last night to that decision, Pat's son John stated:

Our initial reaction is that we are very angry. I would like to say that we are surprised. But what the British Government proposed to us today was nothing short of insulting. We have waited for nearly two years for the government to respond to our supreme court victory in 2019. We have been waiting 31 years for an effective investigation into the murder of my father. What was presented today, I think, once again, if we needed another example, we were presented with it today, is, that the British government at every opportunity will continue to make the wrong decision, and will put all their efforts into ensuring that the truth as to what happened in the murder of my father, that the full truth, will not see the light of day. And they are intent on suppressing that truth. And today's meeting confirms that again to our family. To dangle this statement, that he is not ruling out an inquiry, 31 and a half years after my father was murdered; some nine years after David Cameron accepted that there was collusion; five years after De Silva reported; two years after the supreme court have given their judgement. To say today quite casually that he is not ruling out an inquiry I feel is insulting. We had police investigations before. We had the police investigation after my father was murdered. We also had a police investigation by the most senior police officer in the UK, John Stevens, now Lord Stevens. The Supreme Court dismissed that as not being an effective investigation. So to sit in a room with us today and present this as something credible and ask for us to support that; I thought it was astonishing and I thought it was exceptionally arrogant and cruel of the Secretary of State on behalf of his Government.

The Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Seanad with one voice supported the Finucane family and their call for an independent public inquiry.

They have also received substantial bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Yesterday's decision by the British Government was cruel and crass. Last week, An Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Seanad sent a powerful and personal message of support to the Finucane family. That message remains with them today and will help them absorb yesterday's shocking and indefensible decision. Yesterday, Pat's widow, Geraldine, stated:

It would seem to me there is a lot to hide. So the idea is to just delay and delay and to hope as I get older I will pop my clogs and the investigation will stop. But believe you me with every breath in my body I will fight them to the bitter end and I will make them responsible for what they did.

We wrote to Geraldine to continue to stand with her and family in that fight, to Pat, to truth and to justice and to all those campaigning for the same. The Weston Park agreement has been wilfully ignored. The full authority of the office of An Taoiseach is being wilfully ignored, as are the unanimous and unified voice of the Oireachtas and the importance of the people, here at home and throughout the world, who put on this campaign. The British Government is even ignoring its own Supreme Court.

The Finucane family and the people must now hear what the Government intends to do about it. As Geraldine put it so well on RTÉ Radio this morning:

Today is a new day. I will never give up.

We must never give up either.

On a point of order, I apologise in advance to the Leader but I cannot stay to hear her response on the Order of Business because I have to go to a committee meeting. I will play it back later.

I fully endorse the comments of Senator Ó Donnghaile regarding the disappointment we all feel in respect of the appalling death of Pat Finucane. The Senator is correct. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and both Houses of the Oireachtas have been snubbed by the British authorities. I do not want to go into all this again, but there is clear evidence of the collusion that went on. It is appalling that, even at this late stage, the British authorities will not own up and give in to this public inquiry. It is really sad for us all. I am sure the Government will again take up the baton and fight hard to get this inquiry. I will raise this matter at our parliamentary party meeting later.

I turn to Covid-19 because, in many respects, this is a good day. The retail sector has got up and running. We look forward to Friday, when restaurants, hotels and other services will reopen. Walking from my hotel to Kildare Street earlier, I was keeping an eye on the trains as they travelled through the city. I have to say "Fair play" to the public. While quite a number of people were on the trains, or as many as are allowed at the moment, I did not see anybody without a mask. The people are really coming to terms with the message that we must wear masks. All of us have to understand that the Government had to do a little bit of tightrope walking, both by taking on board what the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, recommended, which is very important, and by seeking some type of meaningful Christmas, although we all know it will not be the same as usual. Older people I have spoken to in recent days have said they have arranged with their family that one wing of the family will visit on Christmas Day and another on St. Stephen's Day, and they have worked that out. We all have to do things differently because of where we are at the moment.

I compliment the people, who are treating this terrible pandemic in what is probably a more serious way than they had previously. I do not say that lightly. Perhaps how we viewed the pandemic in the first four months is different from how we view it now. We all thought it would be a passing storm but now we know it is not. Even with vaccination, it will still be some time before we end up getting the virus under control, but we are moving in the right direction. I firmly believe, and I am sure the Leader will refer to this in her response, that if we wear masks, wash our hands and observe social distancing, we can keep down the numbers. I appeal to everyone, including all Senators, that we do what we are asked to do, have a Christmas and, at the same time, try to keep the numbers low.

I fully agree with Senator Ó Donnghaile about the Pat Finucane decision and the behaviour of the British Government. I think we may all have been laid into a space where we believed an inquiry would be announced yesterday. I certainly believed it would be and all the mood music suggested that, especially in view of the fact that the highest court in the UK had recommended it. What has happened is regrettable and, certainly, the campaign cannot stop. Let us hope that, eventually, the right thing will be done.

Today is World AIDS Day. While we are in the middle of a pandemic, the world keeps moving and there are other serious diseases and health challenges. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, AIDS was a serious challenge but the world came together to try to deal with it. It is not as big a challenge as it was, but it is still a challenge and we cannot forget that because much work continues to be done and needs to be done in the eradication of AIDS and dealing with HIV, particularly in Third World and developing countries. We should redouble our efforts and commitment as a country to funding programmes in the developing world to help combat the spread of HIV and AIDS. At some stage in the new year, it would be no harm to hold a debate on our world development programme and the overseas aid that is provided by this country. We could include world health programmes in that.

Today is a good day in terms of Covid-19 but the deputy chief medical officer put it well when he said that just because we can do something, it does not mean we have to. I call on the Chief Medical Officer, the Minister for Health and the Department of Health not to release Covid-19 figures or death numbers on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day. We have all got used to seeing the notifications on our phones at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. giving us the latest update on the numbers of cases and deaths. On some days it is good news, while on many others, it is not. It would be appropriate if the figures were not released on those three days of Christmas. I am sure they could be released at a later date. Everybody needs a break from that news cycle for those three days and I make that suggestion respectfully.

I second Senator Boyhan's proposal that No. 24, motion 8, on the Order Paper be taken before No. 1.

I join colleagues in expressing my deep disappointment with respect to the Finucane murder. It is important to remember that Pat Finucane was the highest profile person killed in Northern Ireland through collusion but there were hundreds of others, and a truth commission in Northern Ireland is needed to allow the purging of all the horrendous crimes that took place during the Troubles.

I woke up this morning to the news about Arcadia, which is a massive retail outlet. While watching the news, I saw Sir Philip Green, the chairman of Arcadia, get on his yacht. Is it not funny that in every such case, these chairpersons and people who are at the top of the heap get on their yachts and head off to the sun and leave behind devastated workers? More than 490 workers will be affected by what is going to happen to Topshop, one of the brands under which Arcadia operates in this country. Not unlike in the case of Debenhams, much of the stock will now be sold online.

The people of Ireland who are now desperately buying stuff online because of Covid-19 should remember that, if they are buying former Debenhams products or products from Topshop, they are buying products that have put people out of work. I hear a lot of talk about Christmas. However, there will be no Christmas for the 490-odd workers from the Arcadia Group. There will be no Christmas for the people standing outside Debenhams doors just looking for a decent redundancy payment. The chairpersons of these organisations, however, will be on their yachts or in their Maseratis driving off to the sun. The people need to speak by not supporting these super-rich people.