The Housing Minister said that previous decisions on housing have left the Government "tied in regulatory knots", making it "extremely difficult" to build more homes.
James Browne said he wants to clear away red tape and address "viability issues", which he blames on delays in the housing system.
He made the comments as he brought plans to Cabinet to reduce the minimum size of apartments as part of major changes to building rules.
The measures are designed to reduce costs by between 50,000 to 100,000 euros per unit.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet on Tuesday, Mr Browne said that apartment building in Dublin has "collapsed".
"We've looked at the housing delivery from last year, it was certainly lower than we hoped, lower than we expected, and it was very disappointing," he added.
"I've analysed why is that the case and while housing delivery has been increasing, apartment delivery in Dublin city in particular has collapsed, and that means we don't have the apartments, whether it's for purchase or for rental, that families need, whether to be single people, families or older people to live in.
"Today, we're looking at that mix of apartments to ensure that they are more viable for people to be able to build and ultimately for people to be able to rent or purchase for their homes."
He added: "I think over the last number of years, we've made a lot of decisions that I think were very good in isolation, with really good intentions, but when you add them up, what we've actually done is tied ourselves in regulatory knots, and it made it extremely difficult to actually deliver the homes that people need."
“You see the frustrations with local authorities. You see the frustrations with developers and builders and see the real frustration of families who I meet every single day of the week, who cannot get the homes that they need."
“(What) I'm trying to do is clear away the red tape as much as possible and also address the viability issues."
“We're going to do it by way of allowing a redesign in the internal envelope of the building without having to go back for new planning permission."
“So if there's a current planning permission, and there's up to 50,000 planning permissions for housing units or apartments across Dublin, you'll be able to change the internal mix without having to go back for planning permission."
“We won't see the delay that some people are afraid of in terms of maybe a developer going back for new planning permission."
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the changes in the rules around apartment building are "significant".
He said it could reduce the costs by up to 100,000 euros per unit.
"When taken with the other measures that the minister has announced, we are making progress now in terms of viability question in terms of development of apartment units, particularly within cities," Mr Martin said.
"Combined with measures like the planning decisions that he has taken in terms of enabling more zoning, the building blocks are being built now that will lead to a sustained improvement in terms of house construction and apartment building over a considerable period of time."
Tanaiste Simon Harris said it was about balance.
"I think there's a rigidity that we brought into the system that really had seen the pentagon swing too far," he said.
"Rigid building rules around apartments that are never built are no use to anybody, and we need to get supply going."
"The Minister for Housing is bringing forward proposals today to clarify how people are allocated a social home. I think it's really important that there is absolute legal clarity around this."
"You should not have an entitlement to a social house in Ireland if you don't have entitlement to social welfare in Ireland. Legislating for that, I think, is an important and welcome development."