70 -
Provident fund schemes of three universities
Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Michael Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Under the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance, all retirement schemes are required to be registered with the Government by October this year; and for schemes existing prior to the commencement of the Ordinance, they must become solvent by October 1998. It is learnt that the provident fund schemes of the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University are all in a deficit situation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
Reply:
(a)
(b)
(c)
Mr President,
(a)
it will maintain its policy of not using the taxpayers' money to make up for the deficits of these provident fund scheme;
it is aware of how the authorities of the universities concerned will resolve such a serious problem; and
it will consider exempting the provident fund schemes of the various universities from the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance as suggested by some lecturers?
The Administration will not alter its existing policy of limiting its contribution to the superannuation schemes of the tertiary institutions to 15% of the average staff salaries assumed for the purposes of assessment of recurrent grants. The management and operation of the superannuation schemes, including the responsibility for monitoring and ensuring their financial viability, rest with the institutions concerned.