The Hanly report on medical staffing has been broadly welcomed by doctors' representative organisations.
Mr Fintan Hourihan, director of industrial relations at the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), said he welcomed the Hanly Report.
"The IMO is willing and available to enter into negotiations on both consultant and non-consultant hospital doctors contracts."
However he said the reconfiguration of hospital services would require negotiation with non-medical staff also.
"The IMO will want to see a patient impact assessment carried out in situations involving a change of services for hospitals," he added.
Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, secretary general of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) welcomed the publication of the report but warned that the problem of bed capacity in hospitals must be resolved in tandem with the implementation of the report.
Noting that the recommendations on the reconfiguration of hospitals are likely to generate considerable debate, he said: "It is essential that definitive decisions on this aspect of the report be taken at an early date". While he welcomed the proposal to increase the number of hospital consultants to 3,100 by 2009, and to 3,600 by 2013, "we must caution that this timetable is unsatisfactory".
Mr Fitzpatrick said the IHCA expected to be in a position to enter early negotiations with the Department of Health on possible revisions to the consultants' contract.
The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) was more guarded in its response. While welcoming the medical staffing report as a contribution to the debate on healthcare reforms, it said: "The ICGP regrets that reform of hospital services appears to be driven primarily by the European Working Time Directive rather than by patient care."
Labelling the reforms incomplete, Dr Niall Ó Cleirigh, chairman of the college's communications committee, said "general practice can contribute significantly to healthcare reform for much more modest investment that is proposed in this report".
Dr Illona Duffy, of the Local Acute Hospital Alliance and a campaigner for improved services at Monaghan Hospital, said: "It is so easy to make cuts and close acute hospitals without ever putting extra resources in to replace what has been lost".