A 14/15-18
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 25 February 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the competitiveness reports published last year by quite a number of authoritative organizations coincidentally pointed out that alarm had been sounded for Hong Kong's competitiveness. For instance, as indicated by the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 published by the World Economic Forum ("the Forum Report"), Hong Kong was the 7th in the overall rankings of the Global Competitiveness Index that covered 144 countries/economies. Although that ranking is the same as that in the previous year, Hong Kong's ratings in the two areas of higher education and innovation were significantly on the low side, standing respectively at the 22nd and the 26th positions and showing a downward trend. Besides, as indicated by the World Competiveness Report 2014 published by the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, Hong Kong's competitiveness ranking has dropped below the first three positions for the first time since 2005. Apart from the drop in international rankings, as pointed out in the Blue Book of Urban Competitiveness: Report on China's Urban Competitiveness published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ("the Academy Report"), the rankings of Hong Kong in several competitiveness indexes have been surpassed by a number of mainland cities, and in the Overall Incremental Competitiveness Index, Hong Kong was even ranked 18th only, a drastic drop by 10 positions from its ranking in the previous year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the various aforesaid reports have pointed out that Hong Kong should improve on the two areas of higher education and innovation, of the authorities' new plans and measures to enhance Hong Kong's overall competitiveness in these two areas, apart from the proposals put forth in this year's Policy Address; (2) as the Forum Report has pointed out that Hong Kong should note that the quality of its research organizations is declining and that scientists and engineering talents are lacking, of the targeted measures the authorities will implement to resolve these two problems; as the Forum Report has also pointed out that Hong Kong's rankings regarding company spending on research and development as well as university-industry collaboration in research and development were below the 25th position, whether the authorities will implement new measures or provide other incentives (such as tax concessions), apart from the measures currently implemented by the Innovation and Technology Commission, to encourage and induce enterprises and universities to deploy resources for research and development of innovation and technology; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as the Academy Report has reportedly pointed out that although Hong Kong has remained the most competitive city in the country for 12 consecutive years, its economic edges have gradually weakened and its economy lacks stable growth areas due to the over-reliance of its economy on a few industries such as the finance and real estate industries as well as the impact of competitors from within and outside the country, whether the Government will formulate more new measures to promote economic diversification, so as to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness?
2. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
Since 2012, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has employed non-local doctors with limited registration. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the following information on the employment of non-local doctors by HA in each of the years since 2012: (i) the number of applications received by HA from non-local doctors, (ii) the number of applications for limited registration submitted by HA to the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK"), (iii) the number of applications approved by MCHK, (iv) the number of non-local doctors working in HA, (v) the number of people applying for renewal of registration, and (vi) the number of people granted approval for renewal of registration (set out such information in a table); (2) (i) the number of vacancies of doctors, and (ii) the number of vacancies filled by non-local doctors, in HA in each of the years since 2012, with a breakdown by hospital cluster and clinical department in the table below;
Hospital cluster Clinical department 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 Since 1 April 2014 (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii) Hong Kong East Cluster Medicine Emergency Medicine Anaesthesia … Hong Kong West Cluster Medicine … (3) the median and maximum salaries of HA's non-local doctors, as well as their average working hours per week since 2012, with a tabulated breakdown by year and clinical department; (4) the number of non-local doctors with limited registration who are currently employed by tertiary institutions or private healthcare institutions and, among such doctors, of the longest number of years for which the registration concerned has been continuously renewed; and (5) given that the importation of foreign manpower on a long-term basis will have impact on local manpower planning in the long run, whether HA has set any target on the number of imported non-local doctors; if it has, the targets set since 2012 as well as the short, medium and long term targets set for the future; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)
In January 2011, the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited ("HKMC") launched the Small and Medium Enterprises Financing Guarantee Scheme ("SFGS") which aims to help small and medium enterprises and non-listed enterprises with financing difficulties secure loans for meeting operational needs and enhancing productivity and competiveness. Under the SFGS, HKMC may provide 50%, 60% or 70% guarantee for approved loans ("loan guarantees") taken out by eligible enterprises. Given the uncertainties of the global economy in recent years, HKMC implemented special concessionary measures on 31 May 2012 to increase the loan guarantee ratio to 80% of the approved loans, with applications closing on the 28th of this month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) (i) the number of applications received, (ii) the number of applications for which loan guarantees were granted, and (iii) the total amount of loan guarantees made, by HKMC under the special concessionary measures each month since April 2013, with a breakdown by the trade of the enterprises; (2) (i) the number of default cases processed, (ii) the number of default claims received from banks or financial institutions participating in SFGS, (iii) the number of default claims for which compensation was made and its percentage in the total number of default claims, as well as (iv) the total amount of compensation paid, by HKMC under the special concessionary measures since April 2013; and (3) the average time taken at present by HKMC from receipt of a default claim to making a compensation; the current number of outstanding claims and why the processing of these cases has not been completed; whether HKMC will take measures to expedite the processing of these cases; if HKMC will, of the details?
4. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Currently, Hong Kong Public Libraries provide book drops at three major interchange railway stations, namely Central, Kowloon Tong and Nam Cheong Stations. Regarding the provision of book drops at railway stations, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of loaned materials returned through the aforesaid book drops at the three interchange stations since April 2013; (2) whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of providing book drops at interchange stations; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has considered relocating the existing book drops at the interchange stations to other locations inside the stations where passengers must walk past, and providing book drops at other railway stations with higher passenger flows for the convenience of library service users; if it has, of the details and the estimated costs; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, the Government has launched a number of large-scale development projects in East Kowloon and the adjacent areas, such as the Kai Tak Development, Energizing Kowloon East, the Anderson Road Public Housing Development and the Development of Anderson Road Quarry site. However, since the traffic in East Kowloon is already very congested at present and there is insufficient space in the area for road network expansion, local residents are concerned that the additional vehicular flows arising from such new development projects will aggravate the traffic congestion in the area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the design capacities of the following five road sections: Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong Bypass, Clear Water Bay Road near Choi Hung Interchange, Clear Water Bay Road bound for Lung Cheung Road and the roundabout at Kwun Tong Town Centre bound for Hoi Yuen Road; the (i) average vehicle speed, (ii) average traffic throughput, and (iii) annual growth rate of traffic throughput in these road sections during peak hours in the past five years; the percentages of the present traffic throughput of these road sections in their design capacities (set out such information in a table); what short-term and medium-term measures are in place to (i) alleviate the traffic congestion in these road sections, and (ii) divert the additional vehicular flows that will arise from the new development projects; (2) of the progress of the various sub-projects (including the Central Kowloon Route, the Trunk Road T2 and the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel) of the Route 6 Project, which are planned to ease the traffic loads on the roads in East Kowloon; whether the authorities will submit the funding proposals for these sub-projects to the Finance Committee of this Council within the current term of the Government; (3) given the authorities' advice in 2011 that the judicial review of the environmental impact assessment ("EIA") report of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge had affected the EIA of the Route 6 Project, of the respective lengths of delay, the original and revised work progress schedules, as well as the cost estimates and the rates of increase in such estimates of the various sub-projects of the Route 6 Project (set out such information in a table); and (4) of the number of views received by the authorities on the proposed works of the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel, the Central Kowloon Route and the Trunk Road T2 during their gazettal periods, and whether all the views received have been dealt with?
6. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
The University Grants Committee ("UGC") announced the results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 ("the RAE results") on 27 January this year. However, one day before the announcement, a newspaper reported part of the RAE results (including concrete figures), which were then confidential information. Following that, reports and articles were published in that newspaper consecutively for several days, alleging that the academic research results of the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong ("HKU") were inferior to those of the law faculties of other local universities and other faculties of HKU, for which the former Dean of the Faculty of Law of HKU ("the former Dean") should be the one to blame, and considering that the former Dean, who had been unanimously recommended by the members of the search committee for the appointment of the post of Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of HKU, was unsuitable for the appointment. Some teaching staff members of tertiary institutions have expressed concerns that the aforesaid practice of the newspaper has seriously interfered with institutional autonomy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if UGC will investigate why the newspaper was able to obtain the information on the RAE results which was then confidential and whether the requirements under the Official Secrets Ordinance (Cap. 521) or other confidentiality rules have been contravened, and publish the investigation results; if UGC will not conduct such an investigation, the reasons for that; (2) whether it knows the workflow for compiling the RAE results; the names and post titles of those persons who had access to the initial drafts or the final version of the RAE results prior to the announcement of such results; (3) whether it knows if UGC had submitted the RAE results to the Chief Executive's Office, the Executive Council, the Education Bureau, the Central Policy Unit or other organizations prior to the announcement of such results; if UGC had, the reasons for that; (4) as it has been reported that some government officials or some persons entrusted by such officials tendered views on the selection of the Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of HKU to members of the Council of HKU, or even attempted to influence their voting preference, whether the authorities know the details of the communications between such persons and members of the Council of HKU; if they know, of the details; if not, the reasons for that and whether they will investigate whether such communications constituted interference with academic freedom and institutional autonomy; and (5) of the specific measures in place to ensure that the process for selecting senior management staff of tertiary institutions is free from the influence of external pressure, so as to safeguard the autonomy of tertiary institutions?
7. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
According to the Registration of Persons Regulations (Cap. 177 sub. leg. A), every Hong Kong resident shall apply for an identity card within 30 days of his 11th birthday. In addition, the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) stipulates that every identity card holder who has attained the age of 15 shall have with him at all times his identity card. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the justifications for the authorities to authorize, through legislation, law enforcement officers to demand members of the public in public places to produce proofs of identity for inspection; if the justifications are mainly concerned with the identification of illegal immigrants, whether the authorities will, in the light of the downward trend of the number of illegal immigrants arrested in recent years, review or abolish the relevant authorization; (2) of the respective numbers of cases in each of the past three years in which Hong Kong residents aged 11 or above were prosecuted and convicted for failing to apply for identity cards within the specified timeframe; (3) of the respective numbers of cases in each of the past three years in which Hong Kong residents aged 15 or above were fined, detained and arrested for failing to produce proofs of identity on the demand of law enforcement officers; (4) of the respective numbers of persons who were prosecuted and convicted in each of the past three years for possessing or making forged proofs of identity; (5) of the expenditure on and staff establishment for handling new registration and replacement of smart identity cards in each of the past three years; (6) given that the Government is planning to introduce the next generation smart Hong Kong Identity Cards ("HKIC") for all HKIC holders from 2018 to 2022, whether the authorities have consulted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("OPCPD"), so as to ensure that the practices of collection, handling, storage and disclosure of personal data under the Next Generation Smart Identity Card System ("SMARTICS-2") comply with relevant legislation; if the authorities have so consulted, of OPCPD's views; (7) given that SMARTICS-2 will introduce an additional interface to support the use of wireless technology, so that the data stored in the chips of identity cards can be read by a chip reader within a distance of 2 centimetres, whether the authorities have measures in place to prevent lawbreakers from reading the relevant data; if the authorities do, of the details; if not, how the authorities ease the worries of the public; (8) whether it knows the current number of countries the national identity cards issued by which involve the use of wireless technology to read the data stored in the chips of the identity cards; whether these countries have uncovered cases in which the personal data stored in the chips of the identity cards were read unlawfully without the knowledge of the card holders; and (9) given that the Government of the United Kingdom ("UK") announced the abolition of its identity card scheme in 2010, in the hope of saving about £800 million within 10 years, whether the authorities know if there are other countries that have followed UK's practice; if there are, of the reasons why such countries have abolished their identity card schemes; whether the Hong Kong Government will consider following UK's practice in this regard?
8. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that thefts of mail items have occurred from time to time in recent years. Quite a number of members of the public have queried that the Hongkong Post ("HKP") has not handled mail items properly, resulting in some of them being stolen. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of cases of mail items lost in each of the past three years and the number of mail items involved; among them, the number of cases referred to the Police for follow-up because of suspected thefts of mail items; (2) how Hong Kong compares to the developed places in Asia, such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. in respect of thefts of mail items, including whether the situation in Hong Kong is more serious; (3) whether it has analyzed the reasons for the occurrence of a number of thefts of mail items in recent years; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether HKP has measures in place to improve the procedures for handling mail items to guard against thefts of mail items; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
9. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
This year's Policy Address proposes to set up a $300 million Youth Development Fund ("YDF") to support innovative youth development activities which are not covered by existing schemes, including subsidy in the form of matching funds for non-governmental organizations to assist young people in starting their business. Earlier on, there were media reports that a kind-hearted landlord took the initiative to offer young people aged between 18 and 35 intending to start their business a ground-floor shop space in Kowloon at a nominal rent for operating a restaurant. In order to increase upward mobility opportunities for young people so as to promote social harmony and stability as well as raise the success rate of YDF in promoting innovative youth development activities, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider relaxing the relevant policies and introducing the following measures to encourage industrial and commercial organizations as well as individuals to actively fulfill their social responsibility and assist young people in starting their business:
(1) for landlords who are willing to let shop spaces to young people at a nominal rent for them to start their business, (i) granting rates and government rent concessions for the properties concerned throughout the terms of tenancies, and (ii) allowing the amount undercharged as a result of the below-market-rate rentals to be deducted from the assessable profits/income of such landlords in the assessment of the tax payable by them; (2) allocating some government lands which have not yet been planned for development and putting up simple and temporary structures on such lands for use by young people to start their business; (3) following the practice of some countries in Europe and America to allow young people to use mobile vans for conducting commercial activities in the streets; and (4) encouraging more landlords to convert their industrial building units and let them at low rentals to young people starting their business for use as offices or places of business; if it will consider introducing the aforesaid measures, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
10. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
The Policy Agenda of this year's Policy Address proposes to facilitate the further development of private hospitals with a view to ensuring the healthy development of a twin-track healthcare system in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of beds currently provided by various private hospitals, with a breakdown by hospital, type of ward and level of charge; (2) whether it knows the monthly bed occupancy rates for various private hospitals in the past 24 months, with a breakdown by hospital, type of ward and level of charge; (3) given that in the past, the Government included in the land leases granted to private hospitals conditions stipulating that such hospitals shall provide a specified number of free or low-charge beds, of the current number of private hospitals the leases of which contain such conditions and the details of the conditions (including the penalties for contravention of the conditions); how the authorities monitor such hospitals to see if they have really complied with such conditions; (4) as some people have pointed out that the Government's implementation of the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme may lead to private hospitals raising bed charges and substituting low-charge beds for high-charge ones, what measures the authorities have in place to prevent occurrence of such a situation; and (5) as it is proposed in the public consultation document on the Review of Regulation of Private Healthcare Facilities that new legislation be introduced for regulating private healthcare facilities, whether the authorities will consider including provisions in the new legislation or including conditions in the land leases to be granted to private hospitals to require these hospitals to provide a certain ratio of free or low-charge beds, so as to ensure that private healthcare services at reasonable charges are available for the public to choose; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
11. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
The Department of Health currently implements the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme and the Pneumococcal Vaccination Programme, but it has not implemented a similar programme for cervical cancers. The first aforesaid Programme includes the Childhood Influenza Vaccination Subsidy Scheme ("CIVSS"), the Elderly Vaccination Subsidy Scheme ("EVSS"), the Childhood Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (PCV13 booster) ("PCV13SS") and the Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme ("RVP"). Members of the public may receive influenza vaccination from private doctors who have enrolled in CIVSS and EVSS and be entitled to a subsidy of $160 per dose of such vaccine. Under the RVP, the authorities will provide free vaccines and reimburse registered medical doctors a $50 injection fee per dose of vaccine. However, residential care homes ("RCHs") need to make arrangements on their own for registered medical doctors enrolled in the programme to provide vaccination to residents, boarders and staff at their respective RCHs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the publicity efforts made by the authorities since the onset of the current influenza season through the mass media to arouse public awareness of the prevention of the influenza epidemic and the aforesaid vaccination programmes, including (i) the publicity channels, (ii) the publicity frequency, (iii) the expenditure involved, and (iv) the percentage of the air time for the broadcast of television announcements in the public interest ("TV APIs") on influenza prevention in the total air time for the broadcast of government TV APIs during the period; (2) whether it knows the respective vaccine costs and injection costs per dose of trivalent and quadrivalent influenza vaccines; (3) of the respective number of people who received trivalent and quadrivalent influenza vaccines in the past five years under (i) CIVSS, (ii) EVSS and (iii) RVP and the expenditure involved; the respective numbers of private medical doctors/clinics enrolled in such programmes since their introduction; whether the authorities will step up publicity efforts to attract more private medical doctors to enrol in such programmes; whether the authorities will increase the amount of subsidy per dose of vaccine and simplify the application procedures to attract more members of the public/RCHs to participate in such programmes (and set out the information by programme); (4) of the number of children who received vaccination under PCV13SS since the implementation of the scheme and the expenditure involved; the number of doses of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine provided by the Government which are still unused at present; whether the authorities will step up publicity efforts to attract more parents to arrange for their children to participate in the scheme, and whether they will extend the implementation period of the scheme; (5) given that the influenza epidemic in the current influenza season is more severe than that in previous years and there were already more than 200 influenza-associated deaths, whether the authorities will expeditiously allocate additional resources to the various aforesaid vaccination programmes for stepping up publicity efforts, procurement of additional doses of vaccines, and requesting the Hospital Authority to provide vaccination services in various public hospitals; if they will, of the details; (6) whether it knows the respective percentages of children aged under six, elderly people (i.e. those aged 65 or above) and elderly people suffering from chronic illnesses who received vaccination in the past five years; whether the authorities have made reference to the relevant percentages in the neighbouring regions such as Taiwan, Japan and the Mainland and, in response to the severity of the recent influenza epidemic, introduce more subsidized vaccination programmes to enhance protection of public health; (7) of the number of people who received vaccination under the Pneumococcal Vaccination Programme in the past five years and the expenditure involved, as well as the current percentage of the Hong Kong population who has received vaccination; and (8) whether it has plans to introduce new programmes to provide free or subsidized cervical cancer vaccination service for the public; if it does, of the details; if not, how the authorities protect the public from the threat of cervical cancer?
12. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
An academic article published recently by an Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong has pointed out that while one of the objectives of the subject of Liberal Studies ("LS") for secondary education is to help students appreciate and respect diversity in cultures and views in a pluralistic society and handle conflicting values, there are not detailed discussions on or descriptions of multiculturalism or the specific differences and similarities among various religions in the Curriculum and Assessment Guide ("C&A Guide") for Liberal Studies in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. The article has also criticized that the discussions on and descriptions of multiculturalism or religions in LS textbooks in the market are shallow. For example, the followers of certain religions are usually stereotyped negatively, and the life of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong is never explored impartially and in depth. Although the Education Bureau ("EDB") does not approve of teachers using textbooks when teaching LS and has repeatedly emphasized that teachers should not be confined by the contents of textbooks when teaching LS, teachers still depend on textbooks in teaching LS. The article has therefore recommended that publishers should consider the suggestions of multiculturalism experts or representatives of ethnic minorities when compiling LS textbooks, and that EDB should require such textbooks to undergo review, so as to ensure their quality. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether EDB will invite experts well-versed in multiculturalism or representatives of ethnic minorities to review the parts on multiculturalism or religions in the existing C&A Guide for LS, so as to resolve the aforesaid problems; if it will, when it will do so; if not, of the reasons for that; and (2) whether EDB will consider afresh requiring publishers of LS textbooks to submit their textbooks to EDB for review, so as to ensure that such textbooks are up to a basic academic standard; if it will not, of its justifications (other than its disapproval of teachers using textbooks when teaching LS) for not requiring such textbooks to undergo review, and the other measures put in place by EDB to resolve the aforesaid problems?
13. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
As revealed by the latest statistics published by the Rating and Valuation Department, the price index of private domestic properties (all classes) in December 2014 has hit a record high of 277.6, which is higher than that of 172.9 during the peak of the property market bloom in 1997 by over 60%, and that of 206.1 at the inauguration of the current-term Government (i.e. July 2012) by more than 34%. The price surge of small residential units (i.e. Class A units with a usable area of less than 40 square metres or 430.5 square feet) is most remarkable, as shown by a rise of the price index from 217.4 at the inauguration of the current-term Government to a record high of 303.2 in December 2014, with a rate of increase as high as 40%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that property prices have hit record high time and again in spite of the series of measures launched by the current-term Government to stabilize the property market, whether the authorities have evaluated the effectiveness of these measures; whether they have assessed if certain practices of the Government (e.g. the adoption of the arrangement to allow white form applicants to purchase flats under the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") with premium not yet paid in the HOS Secondary Market and the suspension of the implementation of the "Hong Kong Property for Hong Kong People" measure) have produced counter-productive results in stabilizing property prices, and if these practices have been adopted for the sake of expediency without careful consideration, resulting in an effect going contrary to their expectation; and (2) whether it has compiled statistics on the changes, since July 2012, in the percentage of the people's expenditure on rent and residential mortgage payments in their income; whether it has assessed if the current price and rental levels of domestic properties have gone beyond the affordability of the people; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether it has assessed the impacts of such a situation on society and people's livelihood; whether it has formulated any concrete short-term and medium-term measures (including demand-side management measures) to curb the rising trend of property prices?
14. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Hong Kong is now in an influenza season, and influenza-associated deaths have occurred incessantly. It has been reported that Hong Kong people's influenza vaccination rate has all along been on the low side, ranging from 10% to 15% over the past decade and, even for healthcare personnel, the rate has been 10% or so only. An expert on infectious diseases is of the view that given the low public awareness of influenza prevention, the Government needs to step up publicity efforts. Besides, some members of the public are concerned that every time when an influenza season arrives, the public healthcare system is invariably subjected to immense pressure, including an acute shortage of healthcare manpower and hospital beds, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers to date of healthcare personnel (including doctors, nurses and ambulancemen) and members of the public who received influenza vaccination for preventing infection in this influenza season; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has assessed why the vaccination rate is on the low side at present; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as the authorities have indicated in a paper submitted to the Panel on Health Services of this Council this month that in order to encourage the public to receive influenza vaccination, senior government officials take the lead to receive vaccination as role models, whether it knows if the Directors of Bureaux other than the Secretary for Food and Health have received vaccination; if they have, which Directors of Bureaux have already received or are prepared to receive vaccination; if not, of the reasons for that; (4) whether it has assessed the health risks arising from the side-effects after influenza vaccination faced by children under five, the elderly and chronic patients; (5) of the total quantities of influenza vaccines purchased by the Department of Health ("DH") and the Hospital Authority ("HA") in each of the past five years; the existing stock of such vaccines and their expiry dates; (6) of the procedures adopted by DH and HA for disposal of expired influenza vaccines, and the quantities and costs of influenza vaccines which expired and were written off in the past five years; (7) whether it has assessed if the existing influenza vaccine stock kept by DH and HA is sufficient to meet the demand in this influenza season; if it has not assessed, of the reasons for that; if it has assessed, the details; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, why such a situation has emerged, and how it will cope with the demand; (8) whether it will launch new publicity activities to step up publicity on the advantages of vaccination; if it will, of the details; (9) of the number of pharmaceutical manufacturers whom the authorities have contacted to date for the provision of new vaccines targeting the prevailing influenza A (H3N2) virus; whether the authorities will step up efforts to promote research and development of influenza vaccines in Hong Kong; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (10) given the frequent contacts between Hong Kong residents and those of the Mainland and Macao, whether the authorities know the latest statistics on influenza infection and vaccination on the Mainland and in Macao; (11) whether it has assessed if the present shortage of hospital beds in various public hospitals is more serious when compared with that in previous years; (12) whether it knows the emergency services attendances at various public hospitals since the onset of this influenza season, and whether the utilization rate has reached such a level that the hospitals are unable to cope with; how the rate compares with those in the past five years; and (13) whether it knows the shortage of healthcare manpower in various public hospitals?
15. Hon Emily LAU to ask:
According to information provided by the Administration, about 8 000 local adult persons in custody were released on average in each of the past five years, and around $900 million was allocated in 2014-2015 for facilitating persons in custody to re-integrate into society upon release. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) how many persons in custody who were released in each of the past five years had received vocational training or other forms of rehabilitation services whilst in custody; whether they will make more efforts to provide such services to those persons in custody who have not received such services; (2) whether they know how many persons in custody who were released in each of the past five years had problems in finding accommodation upon release, and how many of such persons received accommodation assistance from the Administration; and (3) whether they will make more efforts and allocate more funds to help persons in custody to receive industries training, vocational training and education whilst in custody, as well as employment and housing support upon release, so that they can re-integrate into society more easily?
16. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
In his Policy Address delivered last year, the Chief Executive stated that the Government had identified some 150 sites in the territory, and subject to the successful completion of the town planning procedures for rezoning and/or increasing development intensity, it was estimated that a considerable number of these sites would be available for residential development between 2014-2015 and 2018-2019 and were capable of providing over 210 000 residential units, of which over 70% would be public housing units. As at the end of last year, the authorities have started the work to amend the statutory plans of 45 of such sites. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(1) the following information on each of the 150 sites, grouped by District Council ("DC") district: (i) site area, (ii) whether it is currently rented out under short-term tenancy, (iii) whether land resumption is required before residential development can be taken forward; if so, of the land resumption procedure involved, (iv) whether the consultation process with DCs has been started, (v) the anticipated commencement date of the works for the residential development, and (vi) the number of residential units that can be provided; (2) the following information on each of the 150 sites, grouped by DC district: (i) the existing plot ratio, (ii) the proposed plot ratio, and (iii) the progress of the planning procedure for change of plot ratio; (3) the following information on each of the 45 sites of which statutory plan amendments have been started, grouped by DC district: (i) the proposed use (such as public rental housing, Home Ownership Scheme estates and private residential developments), (ii) site area, (iii) the number of residential units that can be provided, (iv) the anticipated time for completing the statutory plan amendments and making available the site for housing development, and (v) the anticipated commencement date of the works for the residential development; (4) the reasons why statutory plan amendments have yet to be started for the remaining 105 sites; and the measures the authorities have put in place to expedite the relevant work; and (5) the estimated number of sites that will be available for residential development between 2014-2015 and 2018-2019, as well as the respective locations of, and the numbers of public or private residential units that can be provided at, each of these sites?
17. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the number of dementia patients has increased in recent years amid an ageing population. Following the establishment of the Review Committee on Mental Health in May 2013, the Government set up an expert group under the Committee to study the care for dementia patients. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the average waiting time for those people who received assessment for dementia, the number of patients diagnosed with the disease (with a breakdown by age of the patients and hospital cluster to which their places of residence belong), as well as the average waiting time for patients who had been diagnosed with the disease to receive the first treatment, in the past five years; (2) of the objectives and progress of the work of the aforesaid expert group; whether the authorities will consider following the practices of the United Kingdom and Taiwan by formulating specific healthcare policies on dementia; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it knows the non-self-financed drugs currently provided by the Hospital Authority ("HA") for dementia patients (and set out the various categories of drugs by different degrees of symptoms suffered by the patients); (4) whether it knows the non-pharmacological treatment services currently provided by various public hospitals for dementia patients and the relevant service quotas, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such services (and set out the information by hospital cluster); (5) whether assessment for dementia is included in the Elderly Health Assessment Pilot Programme currently provided by elderly health centres; if it is included, of its effectiveness; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the authorities will consider including such an assessment in the Programme; (6) whether it will consider launching a public-private partnership programme to provide medical consultation services for dementia patients; if it will, of the details and timetable for launching the programme; if not, the reasons for that; (7) of the efforts made by the authorities in the past five years to strengthen and integrate the healthcare and social welfare services related to dementia; as this year's Policy Address has mentioned that the authorities will invite the Community Care Fund to explore the implementation of a pilot scheme by drawing on the concept of "collaboration between the welfare and healthcare sectors", with a view to providing integrated community healthcare and rehabilitation services in suitable elderly health centres for elderly persons living in the community and suffering from dementia, of the concrete plans in this regard; and (8) as the authorities pointed out in its progress report submitted to this Council in September last year on the motion on "Formulating a comprehensive elderly care policy to deal with population ageing" that adopting a unified Chinese equivalent to "dementia" would help promote public understanding on the disease and that "認知障礙症" would be adopted as the Chinese equivalent to dementia in all Government documents, whether the authorities will consider stepping up its publicity to keep the public well informed of such a practice; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
18. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the number of patients suffering from macular degeneration ("MD") has increased continuously in recent years. Not only the number of elderly patients, but also that of young patients has been on the rise. Some ophthalmologists have pointed out that the cause of the illness is related to the use of tablet computers and smart phones for a prolonged period and in a dark environment. The fees for examination (such as Fluorescein Fundus Angiography) and treatment (such as Photodynamic Therapy) of MD are high and the chances of relapse are quite high, with serious MD cases even resulting in eye cancer. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) if the Hospital Authority ("HA") has compiled statistics on MD patients such as their number and ages, the proportion of them seeking treatment from public/private healthcare institutions, and their per capita medical expenses; if HA has, of the relevant statistics in the past three years; if HA has not, whether HA will compile such statistics as soon as possible; (2) the details of the MD examination and treatment services currently provided by public hospitals; the average waiting time for patients to be diagnosed and treated respectively; whether HA will make reference to the upcoming plan of outsourcing colorectal cancer screening services and outsource MD examination services to private healthcare institutions, so as to reduce the waiting time and streamline the procedures of patient care; and (3) the respective current waiting time at the Eye Specialist Out-patient Clinics of various hospital clusters (in particular the Kowloon East Cluster), and the clusters with the longest and the shortest waiting time; whether patients are given the choice of seeking treatment in a cross-cluster manner in the light of the length of the waiting time at different clusters?
19. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:
The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled ("Treaty") was adopted in Marrakesh under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") on 27 June 2013. The Treaty requires contracting parties to adopt national law provisions that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats through setting limitations and exceptions to the rights of copyright owners. Some associations for and of the blind have pointed out that the implementation of the Treaty in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") will bring enormous benefits to persons with print disabilities ("PPDs") and at the same time be conducive to the development of accessible book production services to the international community. The Treaty will take effect after 20 contracting parties have deposited their instruments of ratifications to WIPO. China's ratification of the Treaty is required for it to be applicable to Hong Kong, but China has not yet completed the ratification process. On amending the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) to make published works available in formats accessible to PPDs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed if the Treaty will bring significant social benefits to the PPDs in HKSAR; if so, of the outcome; (2) what measures it has taken or intends to take in preparing the local information and communications technology industry, publishing industry, education sector, and providers of social service to PPDs for the implementation of the Treaty in HKSAR and gaining its potential benefits; if such measures are not available, of the reasons for that; (3) whether it will advise the Central People's Government the priority and importance of ratifying the Treaty and the implications of the implementation of the Treaty on HKSAR; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it will conduct consultation on amending the Copyright Ordinance to introduce new exemptions for the provision of accessible versions of learning resources for persons with dyslexia; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
20. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the public lighting systems in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the years in which the various types of streetlights (including those for carriageways and footpaths) currently in use in Hong Kong were designed and their respective luminous efficiency, with a breakdown of the number of each type of streetlights by District Council district; (2) of the electricity consumption of streetlights and its percentage in the total electricity consumption in Hong Kong, as well as the public expenditure on the repair and maintenance of streetlights, in each of the past three years; (3) as the Public Lighting Design Manual has not been updated since 2006, whether the Government has plans to update the Manual in the near future; if it does, of the details, if not, the reasons for that; (4) as some western countries (e.g. Denmark) have plans to replace their existing old-fashioned carriageway lighting systems and gradually introduce intelligent lighting systems (e.g. street lighting systems with motion sensors to dim the lights automatically when no vehicles are running on the roads) in order to save electricity, whether the Government has plans to introduce similar systems to roads/streets with lighter vehicular/pedestrian flows; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) of the current number of streetlights in Hong Kong equipped with devices using renewable energy (e.g. solar power and wind power) to generate power; whether the authorities have plans to install such devices for more streetlights; and (6) of the number of complaints about streetlights (e.g. nuisance caused by street lighting) received by the Government in each of the past three years?
21. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the development of Hong Kong's air freight industry, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current numbers of agreements on the Freedoms of the Air (also known as "Freedom Rights") which have been signed between Hong Kong and other states/places, broken down by the categories of Freedom Rights (i.e. the First to the Ninth Freedom Rights) as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization; (2) of the total number of destinations to which Hong Kong is connected as at the fourth quarter of 2014 and, among such destinations, the number of those with connections provided by low-cost carriers ("LCCs") and the weekly number of related flights; the respective numbers of flights operated weekly by LCCs under the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Freedom Rights agreements, and their respective percentages in the total numbers of the relevant flights, as well as the respective numbers of unused flight frequencies under such Freedom Rights agreements; (3) of the states/places with which the authorities had held negotiation, as at the end of 2014, for increasing the number of destinations under the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Freedom Rights; the number of new destinations added in the past three years and, among such destinations, which destinations are currently connected by LCCs; (4) of the details of the negotiations between the Government and the mainland authorities in the past three years in respect of destination development plans, and the details of those destinations involving connection provided by LCCs; (5) whether any mechanism is in place at present whereby the authorities of Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland can notify one another of the situations of their respective negotiations with other states/places on Freedom Rights; if so, of the details, and whether it knows the destination development plans in the next five years of the airports in neighbouring cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou; (6) whether it knows the plans of the various airports in the Pearl River Delta Region in the next five years to develop LCCs' services; whether the Government will advise the Airport Authority to make reference to the practices of Kansai International Airport in Japan and Changi Airport in Singapore, and to build an air passenger terminal building dedicated for LCCs, so as to attract the anchoring of LCCs and promote diversification in the development of Hong Kong's air freight industry; if it will give such advice, of the details, if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether it has assessed the impacts on the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong's air freight industry if Hong Kong does not actively promote the development of services by LCCs; whether the authorities have other new plans to strengthen the international status of Hong Kong's air freight industry, apart from the proposed third runway; and (8) whether it has studied the air cargo development plans in the next five years of the airports in neighbouring cities; if it has, of the details?
22. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, a Chinese white dolphin ("CWD") suspected to have been hit and injured by the propeller blades of a vessel was spotted in the waters off Tai O. The dolphin was subsequently rescued and sent to the Ocean Park for treatment, but it was eventually euthanized due to deterioration of its injuries. Regarding the conservation of the marine ecosystem and marine life, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has collected information on cases about the injuries or deaths of CWDs and other types of dolphins, and set up a database; if it has, of the details, and whether the authorities will make public the contents of the database; (2) of the number of cases about the injuries or deaths of CWDs and other types of dolphins uncovered by the authorities in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by species, level of injuries and the assessed cause of injuries or deaths; (3) whether the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") has guidelines on handling injured CWDs and other types of dolphins at present; if AFCD does, of the details, and whether AFCD will review the guidelines in response to the above incident; if not, the reasons for that, and whether AFCD has any plan to formulate such guidelines; (4) given that many leisure boats provide dolphin-watching tours for tourists at present, whether the authorities will establish a licensing regime to regulate matters such as the quality and operation of such services, as well as the operation of leisure boats (e.g. routes, speed, boat sizes, noises generated and pollutant emission volumes); if the authorities will, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether the authorities have discussed with the operator of SkyPier and formulated measures to reduce the speed or adjust the routes of the speedy ferries plying the pier, so as to minimize the impacts of these ferries on dolphins and other forms of marine life; if the authorities have, of the details and implementation timetable of the measures; (6) whether the authorities will urge the Airport Authority to expeditiously implement, irrespective of whether the construction works of the third runway can be commenced, the specific mitigation measures mentioned in the relevant Environment Impact Assessment Report for the protection of CWDs and the marine ecosystem, including speed control on construction vessels and the re-routing of SkyPier speedy ferries plying Zhuhai and Macao; if the authorities will, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether the ambit of the Shipping and Port Control Ordinance (Cap. 313) ("the Ordinance") covers the habitat of and the waters cruised by CWDs and other types of dolphins, including the waters where the aforesaid injured CWB was spotted; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and of the rules that regulate the speed and routes of vessels within these waters at present; whether the authorities will amend the scope of the Ordinance with a view to minimizing the impacts of vessels on dolphins in these waters; if the authorities will, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that and the difficulties encountered; and (8) of the enforcement situation of the Ordinance in each of the past five years, including the respective numbers of people prosecuted and convicted, and the highest and lowest penalties imposed?
III. Bill
First Reading
Appropriation Bill 2015
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
Appropriation Bill 2015 : The Financial Secretary