The new chief executive of the Health Service Executive is to be Cathal Magee.
He will receive a salary of around €322,000 a year for the five year post.
Cathal Magee will take up his post on 1 September, after Professor Brendan Drumm officially steps down.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said she was delighted with the appointment.
She said Mr Magee brings a track record of top class leadership to the health system.
Fine Gael Health Spokesperson Dr James Reilly TD also welcomed the announcement.
He said: 'I would like to wish him well in the mammoth task that lies ahead. It's going to require real reform and a cultural change in an organisation which is bedevilled by secrecy, inefficiency a lack of accountability.
'The HSE needs a new patient-centred ethos with a focus on effective management, rather than process and administration. This new ethos must permeate the entire organisation.'
