A new shared-equity scheme is being announced by the Government on Thursday to help more people buy a home.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien says they plan to supply 2,000 homes per year on the 'First Home' programme.

Under the plan, the State can take a share, or equity, in homes of up to 30%. This can then be bought back by the homeowners at any time.

Minister O'Brien told Newstalk Breakfast how it will work.

"We're seeing supply, thankfully, this year turning a corner.

"We've seen the largest amount of housing commencements since 2011... the highest amount of planning permissions in well over a decade as well.

"First-time buyers are the highest proportion of new purchases within the market last year - but we need to do more to help them.

"That's why tomorrow I'll be announcing the 'First Home' shared-equity scheme, which is a gamechanger - in my view."

But he says this will not be a second mortgage on properties.

"This is an equity, this is not a second mortgage... it's actually a real help for people.

"The State will take a stake in that home, you can buy it out - or not.

"So if it was a 20% stake, you can purchase that out over the course of the term or pay it back when you sell the home.

"I've looked a similar schemes across the world, and we've improved upon it."

He says this will be targeted at those who really need it with "no arbitrary salary caps".

"We're targeting about 2,000 homes per year over the next three/four years on this."

And he believes it will help people to bridge the gap in their finances.

A new website will also go live after the scheme is announced, with a portal that people can log on to.

Listen back to the full interview here: