Construction shutdowns due to the pandemic are being blamed for slow delivery of affordable purchase homes this year.

It comes as just eight are set to be delivered under a €310m Government fund.

The first under the fund will be a pilot cost-rental project in Stepaside, Co Dublin - while the first affordable purchase homes will be at Boherboy Road in Cork city.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien said: "There will be eight affordable purchase homes delivered in this first phase and Cork City Council has advised my department that two bedroom homes will be €218,000 and three bedroom homes will be €243,000".

But Minister O'Brien told Newstalk Breakfast things will pick up next year.

"There's no question - eight is a low figure - there's a reality too, though, that we've had two really significant construction shutdowns, particularly this year.

"We're going to see the ramping up of affordable housing to a very significant level from later this year into next year.

"And that's why the passing of the Affordable Housing Act, that's going to give people real hope of being able to buy their own home at an affordable rate, is really important.

"So really from 2022 onwards, we're going to see a really ramped-up delivery on affordable housing, on cost rental - which never existed before.

"We've our first tenants in their own cost rental homes, paying 50% of market rent.

"We've a challenge ahead to that - but Housing for All targets about 54,000 affordable homes over the coming years, and we intend to do that".

A new national affordable housing scheme was signed into law back in May.

The bill brought in a national scheme on the provision of affordable homes on State-owned land.

The cost-rental model, included in the bill, also allows people to attain State-backed rents at a minimum of 25% below market rents.

Some 400 tenancies across the country are to be under the scheme.