The Press Council will accept complaints from the public from January 1st about any articles published or broadcast since October 1st, it has emerged.
It is also becoming clear the Government is prepared to postpone action on privacy legislation until it sees how the council performs.
However, the Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, will move shortly to advance the Defamation Bill through the Seanad, but it may not be law before the council begins work.
This legislation, which was initiated in the Seanad by the then minister for justice, Michael McDowell, failed to complete its passage through the Oireachtas during the lifetime of the last Dáil.
It is still not certain if the Bill, which will grant newspapers greater protections if they respond quickly to complaints, will be left unamended by his successor.
Mr Lenihan has yet to discuss the postponement of the Privacy Bill with some Cabinet colleagues, particularly those in Fianna Fáil who insisted during the last government that some action in this area would have to be taken before libel laws were eased.
However, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has given some indications, according to senior sources last night, that he is prepared to give the new body some time in order to show its usefulness.
The Press Council and the Department of Justice, it is understood, take different views on the necessity for the Defamation Bill to be passed before the council starts.
The council, which is chaired by former TCD provost Tom Mitchell, believes that it should be law so that its rulings for or against newspapers are granted qualified privilege.
The 13-strong council has a lay majority.
Seven, including the chairman, were chosen to reflect the various strands of Irish society, while the other six were drawn from newspapers and newspapers' representative organisations.
The Press Ombudsman, Prof John Horgan, formerly of Dublin City University, has been appointed to receive complaints from members of the public, consider whether they are valid, and then seek to resolve them to the satisfaction of everyone involved.
While Prof Horgan will deal with the majority of complaints received, he does have the option of referring difficult cases, or cases where those involved are dissatisfied with the decision reached, to the Press Council of Ireland.
Under the Defamation Bill, media organisations would no longer be admitting liability, as they are now, if they published an apology, which could then subsequently be used against them in a court action.
The original Bill also allowed the media new defences against being sued, notably "fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public importance", and required plaintiffs and defendants to swear affidavits, on which they could then be cross-examined.
