Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the new national housing plan will be ready within the next month.
Mr Martin said the plan gives the overall financial framework for housing over the next five years and beyond.
He said more initiatives designed to get more private sector investment into housing are needed, adding there was a significant drag in terms of apartment building.
"To get to the figures we want - to get to the 50 to 60,000 per annum, we quite simply need more private sector and particularly apartment building happening," Mr Martin said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said the State on its own cannot build all the housing required.
Most of the building is funded by the State, Mr Martin said, even that work carried out by the private sector.
Mr Martin added that the private sector dependency on State funding needs to be eased out.
"The housing action plan will outline the degree to which that dependency has to be eased over the over the next decade," he said.
"The State will stay involved, obviously hugely, in terms of both construction of social housing and in terms of the support of affordable housing, which is quite significant right now.'
Mr Martin said there is not sufficient housing supply at the moment and this is having a knock on effect on house prices.
He acknowledged the cost of property is excessive and a huge issue.
"We need to reduce that and the only logical way to achieve is is to bring more supply into the market," he said.
Taoiseach says homelessness problem is 'complex'
Meanwhile, Mr Martin said the homelessness problem and the composition of homelessness is much more complex than presented.
Mr Martin said efforts need to be made to "drill down" and find out all the reasons behind it.
He said it is not just a simple case of accommodation not being available.
It comes as the homeless charity Depaul said the number of people moved from homelessness into long-term accommodation last year rose by 39%.
Mr Martin said officials in Cork City Council told him 26% of people in emergency housing in Cork city have refused an offer of accommodation.
"Given the population growth and the nature of some of those who end up in emergency accommodation, it tends to be a bit more complex than just a simple matter of housing not being available," said Mr Martin.
However, he acknowledged that children need to leave emergency accommodation as quickly as possible and said proposals have been brought to Government to ring-fence additional housing for families.
He said child poverty will be prioritised in Budget 2026 and the government is looking at significant moves in terms of child support and working family payments.
A second tier child benefit will be developed, Mr Martin said, but it will take some time to develop.
The Fianna Fáil leader said disability will also be a focus of the Budget.
Meanwhile, Mr Martin said inflation spiked very significantly following Covid and the war in Ukraine and the Government needs to target resources to bring those figures down.
Mr Martin said the Government will target resources towards those children who are living in consistent poverty and are at risk of poverty.
This means targeting specific measures in areas such as early education, childcare facilities and housing, he said.
Mr Martin said 25% of the education funding already goes to children with additional needs.
He said the process of phasing out the means test for carers will begin in Budget 2026 but said it will take a few budgets before it can be fully phased out.
He said the Government has improved efforts to minimise costs for households such as increasing SUSI grants and providing free school books.
