There was a positive welcome from the Government and the main Opposition parties for the Patten report. The Taoiseach said "the paramount objective is to get on rapidly with implementing the recommendations".
The Government is expected over the coming weeks to discuss the implementation of the report with the British government and the political parties in the North. A Government source said it would reject any attempt to make the report part of the Mitchell review of the Belfast Agreement.
The Government said "the recommendations have the potential to realise the agreement's objective of a professional and widely acceptable police service. This is in the interests of all the people, unionist and nationalist alike".
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said the recommendations "are the best way to get a police service that will be impartial, representative and capable of winning public acceptance. The aim must be to implement them in full."
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the report "contains the elements that, if implemented, can create a new policing climate in Northern Ireland."
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, described the report as an "effective blueprint" to provide Northern Ireland with a police service which had the support of both communities. She set a two-month deadline for consultation on the proposals.
She said many of the recommendations could be in force within months, while others would take much longer.
While confirming that she had pencilled in the end of November to "complete discussions and then publish a full implementation plan in December", she hoped people would focus on the proposals rather than on the time-frame for their implementation.
"In line with the report, some changes [to the police force] can be made without legislation, some as soon as legislation is in place, others will take time - years - to complete," she said.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, described the report as a "good and thorough piece of work".