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LegCo to ask two questions on Legionella bacteria found in various water samples taken from new Central Government Complex and LegCo Complex
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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (January 11) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Complex. During the meeting, Dr Joseph Lee and Dr Priscilla Leung will ask respectively, under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure, separate questions on Legionella bacteria found in various water samples taken from the new Central Government Complex and the Legislative Council Complex.  

     Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
  
     On members' motions, Mr Cheung Kwok-che will move a motion on formulating a comprehensive mental health policy. The motion, states: "That Hong Kong people have persistently faced high rentals, high inflation, long working hours and the absence of retirement protection in their lives, and the Government has also failed to put in place a comprehensive safety net, create a fair competition environment, and provide Hong Kong people with sufficient and affordable homes, thus causing people's livelihood pressure to increase; besides, Hong Kong people's happiness index has long remained on the low side, and the symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety are prevalent; government departments and organisations which are currently providing drug treatment and counselling services for people with mental illness and people recovering from mental illness follow different policies, and policy bureaux and administrative departments all adopt an indifferent attitude; hence, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing policies and various services; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to formulate a comprehensive mental health policy, strengthen preventive and remedial services, improve the relevant policies on labour, land, healthcare, welfare and education, etc., and build a care-based community, so as to improve Hong Kong people's living environment and mental health quality, reduce their chance of contracting mental illnesses, assist people with mental illness to recover and reintegrate into society, and promote all social sectors to accept people recovering from mental illness to integrate into society."

     Dr Joseph Lee, Mr Cheung Man-kwong, Dr Pan Pey-chyou and Mr Alan Leong will move separate amendments to Mr Cheung Kwok-che's motion.

     Mr Vincent Fang will move a motion on reviewing the population policy.  The motion, states: "That, the continuous increase in the number of mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong constitutes growing pressure on hospitals and the relevant healthcare services in Hong Kong, and the aforesaid Hong Kong-born babies also impose potential pressure on Hong Kong in various respects, such as education, welfare, long-term healthcare, housing and employment, etc., while both the SAR Government's governance and financial resources allocation lack long-term planning, leading to piecemeal policies to deal with problems on an ad hoc basis; besides, the daily quota of 150, which mainly aims at facilitating mainland residents' settlement in Hong Kong for family reunion, has not been fully and properly utilised to resolve the serious mismatch in the employment market and fails to fulfil the original good intent of fostering family reunion and bringing young labour into Hong Kong, but has instead drastically increased Hong Kong's burden in respect of the Comprehensive Social Security Allowance (CSSA) and coping with population ageing; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to:

(a) comprehensively review the existing population policy and include in the scope of the review the current problems in the four major areas of welfare, education, housing and CSSA arising from mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong; make reference to the population policies of developed countries for reviewing whether Hong Kong should continue to allow babies born in Hong Kong to parents who are both non-permanent residents of Hong Kong to enjoy the right of abode in Hong Kong;

(b) conduct a comprehensive review on the current utilisation rate of the daily quota of 150 which mainly aims at facilitating mainland residents' settlement in Hong Kong for family reunion, successful applicants' ages, academic qualifications, skills and employment situation after coming to Hong Kong, as well as the ratio of their applications for CSSA, etc., and, where necessary, adjust the utilisation of the quota of 150 having regard to the actual circumstances and needs of Hong Kong's employment market; and

(c) based on the outcome of the review, formulate a new population policy that suits the long-term development needs of Hong Kong so as to provide reference for the formulation of Policy Addresses and Budgets, and conduct reviews from time to time having regard to Hong Kong's social development in order to ensure the appropriateness of Hong Kong's population policy."

     Mr Albert Ho, Mr Ip Kwok-him, Mr Wong Kwok-hing, Mr Paul Tse and Mr Alan Leong will move separate amendments to Mr Vincent Fang's motion.

     Meanwhile, Ms Miriam Lau will move a motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure to take note of the Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Portuguese Republic) Order, the Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Kingdom of Spain) Order and the Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Czech Republic) Order, laid on the Table of the Council on January 11.

     On bills, members will resume Second Reading debates on the Guardianship of Minors (Amendment) Bill 2011.  If the Bill is supported by members and receives its Second Readings, it will then go through the Committee Stages and be read the Third time.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found in the LegCo website.

     Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the Legislative Council Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo homepage.

Ends/Monday, January 9, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:22

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