XN000022-1996-03-13 — Page 25

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Pneumoconiosis Bill

Following is the speeches by the acting Secretary for Education and Manpower, Miss Jacqueline Willis, in moving the second and third readings of the Pneumoconiosis (Compensation) (Amendment) Bill 1995 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

First of all, I am grateful to members for their support of this important Bill which seeks to make improvements to the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme in a way which is broadly acceptable to both employers and employees. I should also like to thank the Chairman, Dr The Hon LEONG Che-hung, and members of the Bills Committee for their careful examination of the Bill and for their valuable views on it.

As members are aware, this Bill is the outcome of the Government's conscious decision to bring about substantial improvements to the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme. The most important improvement is the proposal to remove from the existing compensation formula the compensation amount intended for pain, suffering and loss of amenities (PSLA) but without being specified as such, and make it a separate compensation item so that all eligible pneumoconiotics will be entitled to this amount irrespective of their degree of incapacity under the Scheme. Another significant improvement is the introduction of a reasonable degree of flexibility in the assessment of incapacity under the Scheme, by two means, as set out in Clause 13 of the Bill. First, it empowers the Pneumoconiosis Medical Board (PMB) to consider findings of not only the standard Forced Vital Capacity (FVC test) for assessment of lung function loss under the Scheme, but also other lung function tests or clinical findings relevant to a pneumoconiotic's loss of lung function, and as a result, to adjust the degree of incapacity as assessed by reference to the FVC test by no more than 5%. Second, it empowers the PMB to assess the degree of a pneumoconiotic's loss of lung function on the basis of other relevant clinical tests, or physical or radiological findings if he/she cannot perform the FVC test at all because of certain co-existing medical conditions.

In the course of examining the Bill, Members expressed concern that in a number of cases, the family members of the deceased pneumoconiotics were not eligible for compensation because the PMB had determined that the pneumoconiotics in those cases did not die of pneumoconiosis. Members considered that the criteria adopted by the Pneumoconiosis Medical Board in determining the cause of death of pneumoconiotics might have been too stringent. While we appreciate members' concern, I wish to stress the importance of ensuring that the compensation for death under the Scheme is strictly confined to family members of only those deceased persons whose death was really caused by pneumoconiosis. Nevertheless, we have conveyed members' concern to the PMB, which will continue to take into account all factors relating to pneumoconiosis in their assessment of the cause of the deceased pneumoconiotics.