The Irish Medical Organisation has welcomed the appointment of Mary Harney as the new Minister for Health and Children.
What it called 'fractured relationships' between the Government and doctors had to be repaired, it said.
The IMO insisted that doctors had an appetite for reform, once it was not lip service.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation said it wanted the new minister to secure funds to implement the National Health Strategy and radical reform.
In its response to the appointment of Ms Harney, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association said that money was needed for more beds and to improve services in acute hospitals.
