Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said that the Governor of the Central Bank is "on side" in relation to the Help-to-Buy scheme announced in the Budget yesterday.
The scheme will provide first-time buyers with a rebate of income tax paid over the previous four tax years, up to 5% of the purchase price of a new home up to a value of €400,000.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Mr Noonan said the scheme will give a big chunk of money to people for their deposit, as people will get the rebate at the time they pay the deposit to the builder.
However, he added that if they have not paid the tax, then they cannot get any rebate.
He said there will now be a demand for starter homes again and it will be worth builders' time in building new homes.
He said currently there are no starter homes being built in Dublin, just bigger homes.
The minister also said Budget 2017 "isn't really" in breach of EU rules and said he was not concerned about that.
As a result of growth in the economy for this year, he said, the Government had to pay another €280 million in levies to Europe and in 2016 that was "an unexpected expense on us and it changed the numbers for us.
"So technically, you could argue that we ended up in 2016 in a breach but it was because we were giving money to Europe."
The minister said on "marginal things" like this, Europe does "a top down overview" and the Government knows there is not going to be "any fines or any reprimand or anything like that. They understand the arithmetic".
Minister Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe took calls from the public on Budget 2017 this morning on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke.
Budget breaches won't lead to EU fines - FAC
Mr Donohoe has said he expects childcare prices to come down as a result of the childcare subsidy announced yesterday.
A €35m Single Affordable Childcare Scheme is to be introduced in September 2017.
It will provide parental means-tested subsidies towards the cost of childcare for children aged six months to 15 years and universal subsidies of up to €80 a month or €900 a year for all children aged between six months and three years.
Mr Donohoe said he and Minister for Children Katherine Zappone were aware of issues regarding the sustainability of the sector and that it needs to be "put on a more solid footing".
The subsidy will only be made available to childminders and childcare providers registered with Tusla, he added.
