XN000022-1996-03-06 — Page 96

- 82

+

Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board Rules

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph Wong, in the motion debate on the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to repeal the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 1996 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

The Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board (MECAB) was established in December 1994. It provides a quick and inexpensive service for the adjudication of minor employment claims involving five or less claimants for a sum of money not exceeding $5,000 per claimant. As at 29 February 1996 it has adjudicated 1,890 cases.

The MECAB (Fees) Rules specify the fees payable for the proceedings taken in MECAB. The fees have not been revised since their introduction.

As a matter of principle, all fees are subject to regular review. On 7 February 1996 we tabled in the Legislative Council the MECAB (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 1996 which proposes to raise the fees by 10%.

We estimate that the existing fees, ranging from $5 to $50, only recover a very small portion of the total cost. The effect of the proposed fee increases, which range from 50 cents to $5, does no more than to maintain the real value of the existing fees.

What I want to emphasis is Section 3 of MECAB (Fees) Rules provides that the Registrar may reduce, remit or defer payment of the fees. An applicant may apply for waiver of fees on ground of financial difficulty. So far, no such application has been received.

The proposed fee increases will not affect the livelihood of the general public and will not have the slightest impact on inflation.

I urge members to oppose the motion.

Thank you.

End