These changes will obviously have an impact on the cash flow of the Medical Defence Union and the Medical Protection Society, but they will also mean these bodies will no longer be responsible for the greater part of the risks attached to their members' practices. If the defence bodies have conducted their affairs in a prudent and responsible fashion, there is no reason they should not be in a position to meet the liabilities for which they have accepted subscriptions in the past. Irish doctors have always paid the subscriptions requested of them and our public hospitals reimbursed to the consultants the amounts they were obliged to pay under the consultants' contracts. It is a matter for the managers of the defence bodies if they have not accurately costed their liabilities or failed to set the correct level of subscriptions to meet them. To suggest that the Exchequer and taxpayers should take on these liabilities makes no sense and cannot be justified on any reasonable ground.