Direct programmes to combat social exclusion will see an expenditure of £15 billion during the plan's lifetime.
Housing, schools, health services, childcare and community development will all benefit under these provisions.
Social and affordable housing will be allocated £6 billion to cut waiting lists.
Health services will get £2 billion for buildings and equipment.
Education will be another big beneficiary, with an allocation of nearly £6 billion.
The plan was welcomed yesterday by the Community Platform, which represents more than 20 national organisations including the Conference of Religious of Ireland, the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, the National Women's Council and the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
"The expenditure on social housing, healthcare and human resources is badly needed to address the growing crisis faced by many excluded communities," it said.
But it expressed disappointment at what it called "the limited investment in equality signalled by the plan". It added: "This will comprise primarily expenditure on childcare provision which, while welcome, is grossly inadequate."
The Forum of People with Disabilities said the plan "contains no specific details as to what resources will be directed at concrete, inclusive measures for disabled people over the next six years."
The regional development programmes include over £1 billion for social inclusion. They will devote £250 million to childcare schemes aimed at increasing the number of trained childcare personnel, and other measures on which the plan gives few details.
"The objectives of the childcare measure include reconciling work and family life and facilitating access for women to education, training and employment," it says.
Equality gets £23.2 million for measures including retraining and "up-skilling" women employees and promoting greater sharing of family responsibilities.
Community development programmes and family support services and centres will get £253 million. The emphasis will be on "a wide range of self-help activities designed to provide a first step for individuals to escape from poverty and to improve family life in disadvantaged communities. Resource projects that act as catalysts for development in disadvantaged communities will also be supported." Youth services will get £302 million to prevent young people "drifting into substance abuse, unemployment and crime".
There will also be measures to "target" the most marginalised people "who lack or have lost the capacity to access the mainstream employment services and training opportunities". A sum of £159 million will be spent helping them to go into self-employment, education or training.
The co-ordination of many of the social exclusion measures will be the responsibility of the county and city development boards to be set up by January.
The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, said the funding for community development "will further help unlock the potential of local community self-help initiatives to make major inroads in tackling poverty".
The community development programmes supported by his Department will get £100 million.
"This is some £2 million to £4 million more per annum than the 1999 provision and is a substantial recognition of the value of the success of the programme in its work over the last 10 years in building the capacity of local communities to take control of their own issues and provide services to meet needs identified by themselves."