XN000022-1995-04-27 — Page 4

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The Honourable Member is also right to say that having met the targets set out in the Green Paper of 1992, we've then got to look at whether there are additional targets and we have to bring forward plans for dealing with those as well. But our immediate priority is to do everything we humanly can to meet the targets that we set in good faith in 1992, and which the parents of the severely mentally handicapped expect us to deliver on,

Mr Lee Cheuk-yan (through interpreter): A follow-up question Mr President. For 1992/93 for your policy address you promised that there would be some 3,930 places and the Governor said that the shortage will be reduced as far as possible. But Mr Governor, in 1997 for example, what will be the number of residential places provided? You want to reduce the shortfall but in the end, for example in 1997, what will the shortfall be? If in the end the shortfall will still be in excess of 1,000 then we are only marking time, but if in the end the ultimate shortfall is small then at least to the parents they will regard that as a piece of good news. So we are worried that in the end the shortage may still be rather large.

Governor: First of all, as I think the Honourable Member knows, not all the places in residential homes are for the severely mentally handicapped, but a large proportion of them of course are. Secondly, we are looking at the moment at the shortfall or the likely shortfall. I think none of us regard it as acceptable and we wish to do everything we can to reduce it to the minimum. I want to meet the parents of the severely mentally handicapped so I can go through those figures with them. We will then make clear to the Honourable Member and his colleagues who share his concern about this subject, and I think that speaks for most of the Legislative Council, we'll then make clear to them what in our judgement is the irreducible minimum but we do intend to do everything we can to deliver on these targets.

It's important to see the targets in human terms. If a family is not able to find a place in a hostel, in a home, for a loved one who's severely mentally handicapped, then that means that the family have to cope with an additional and considerable strain for that much longer and I don't think any of us find that acceptable.

So, I want to repeat as strongly as I can to the Honourable Member that we have had problems and they're problems that we identified in the progress report last Autumn. We are determined to cope with them as energetically as we can and that we will make clear, we will come clean, at the end of the day on where we're gong to fall down on our targets, if we are, and how we intend to minimise any shortfall.