The body representing landlords says incentives are urgently needed to keep them in the rental market.
It follows the publication of data last week that showed that 40% of residential property sales during the last three months of last year involved landlords exiting the market.
The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) said unsustainable taxes and overly burdensome regulations are forcing those renting properties to tenants to sell up.
It said the findings of the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland report, published on Friday, were alarming but not surprising, as it has been highlighting the issue to the Government for years.
"The SCSI's findings should be sobering reading for those who argue that we can achieve a sustainable rental market solely by increasing the regulatory burden on the sector," said IPOA chairperson Mary Conway.
"We welcome indications from An Taoiseach that he aspires to introduce new incentives for landlords, but these need to be meaningful and not cosmetic, if he is to resolve the exodus of private landlords from the market."
Last week Mr Varadkar said that tax measures to both encourage the building of more homes and to keep landlords in the rental market are not "off the table".
"These latest figures underscore the need for a fundamental rebalancing of the approach to this policy issue, rather than continuing with menial tweaks to the system, which only incentivise landlords to sell up," said Ms Conway.
"Therefore, a reduction of tax on private landlords' rental income with a commensurate rise in the rate paid by institutional investors in residential property will achieve an outcome that will avert further blockages to housing supply."
Last year, research conducted by the IPOA and the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers found that 57% of landlords with properties in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) planned to sell their property.
Some measures were introduced in the budget to assists landlords, but the IPOA described them as miniscule.
It said the Government now needs to act "boldly, and urgently" to create suitable incentives for landlords to remain in the market.
