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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 (November 27) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on facing up to the needs of persons with disabilities.
The motion, to be moved by Mr Leung Yiu-chung, states:" That this Council urges the Government to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on various policy levels, and face up to the needs of persons with disabilities especially in areas such as healthcare, education, welfare, employment and transportation, etc., so as to create a truly inclusive society; the relevant measures should include:
Healthcare －
(1) to review the definition of disabilities under the various policies on persons with disabilities, and reform the definition under the Disability Allowance by deleting the outdated provisions linked to 'a 100% loss of earning capacity' and replacing them by international disability standards and assessment methods;
(2) to comprehensively review and raise the amounts of the Disability Allowance to enable persons with disabilities to adequately meet medical and healthcare expenses, etc.;
Education －
(3) to comprehensively review the integrated education policy, including the subsidy systems, manpower establishment and training, assessment systems, continuous education arrangements, overall culture and public education, and consider legislating for protecting students with disabilities and those with special learning needs;
(4) to step up the promotion of sign language, implement sign language programmes in primary and secondary schools and provide sign language interpretation in television news reports, so as to facilitate the deaf-mute to integrate into society;
Welfare －
(5) to increase the places in residential care homes for persons with disabilities and provide carer subsidies to carers of persons with severe disabilities, so as to protect the livelihood of persons with disabilities in residential care homes or in the community;
Employment －
(6) to establish a quota system for employing persons with disabilities and provide minimum wage subsidies; the Government and subvented organisations should take the lead in employing more persons with disabilities, with 2% as the target rate, and disclose by various departments and organisations their status on employment of persons with disabilities; other larger-scale public organisations such as the MTR Corporation Limited and the Airport Authority, etc. should also take the lead in employing more persons with disabilities;
Transportation －
(7) to extend the scope of the Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (i.e. concessionary fare of $2 per trip) to cover persons with disabilities under the age of 12, and make it applicable to green minibuses across the territory; and
(8) to improve the existing barrier-free access and install electronic route display panels and next stop announcement systems on various means of public transport."
Mr Ip Kin-yuen, Mr Chan Han-pan, Mr Wong Kwok-hing and Dr Fernando Cheung will move separate amendments to Mr Leung Yiu-chung's motion.
Professor Joseph Lee will move a motion on formulating a medical policy to support ethnic minority elderly people. The motion states: "That Hong Kong's ethnic minority population continues to increase, but due to differences in culture and lifestyle, ethnic minorities, especially elderly people, may have physical and psychological health problems; ethnic minority elderly people are generally unable to have access to clear healthcare information because of language problems, resulting in their being unable to properly prevent diseases and seek treatment for illnesses; in this connection, this Council urges the Administration to formulate a medical policy to support ethnic minority elderly people to protect their health."
Ms Claudia Mo, Ms Alice Mak, Dr Chiang Lai-wan, Ms Cyd Ho and Ms Emily Lau will move separate amendments to Professor Joseph Lee's motion.
Meanwhile, Mr James To will move a proposed resolution under the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance to extend the period for repealing the Fugitive Offenders (Czech Republic) Order laid on the table of LegCo on November 6, 2013, to the meeting of January 8, 2014.
Mr Andrew Leung will move a motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion, states: "That this Council takes note of Report No. 5/13-14 of the House Committee laid on the table of the Council on November 27, 2013 in relation to the Post Office (Amendment) Regulation 2013, the Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Guernsey) Order, the Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Italian Republic) Order and the Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (State of Qatar) Order".
Meanwhile, the Secretary for Home Affairs will move a proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2013, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on October 4, 2013.
The Secretary for Food and Health will move a proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulation 2013 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulation 2013, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on October 25, 2013.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
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 LegCo 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 the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo website.
Ends/Monday, November 25, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:09
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