Green designation is knocking up to €5,000 per acre off marginal land values

Tom Crosse of GVM Property in Limerick and Sligo-based auctioneer Roger McCarrick said environmental designations were now a significant determinant of land values.

Their views tally with an INHFA survey of auctioneers in the west and northwest which found that designations reduced land values by at least 50pc.

Mr McCarrick said there was potentially a 75pc price difference between designated land and undesignated land.

He said land for forestry in the north-west was generally making from €4,000/ac to €6,000/ac, but a designation ruled out the possibility of planting and therefore hit the value of the ground.

The possibility of getting planning for a house site was also excluded by an environmental designation, Mr McCarrick added.

The Tubbercurry auctioneer said designated ground was generally selling for under €1,000/ac.

Mr Crosse said he had valued a lot of land at €700-800/ac in north Kerry, west Limerick and Clare in recent months because the properties were designated.

The designation ruled out forestry and wind farm developments, leaving a pure farming value on the properties, Mr Crosse explained.

Mr McCarrick described the process of designation as "very unfair" and claimed that farmers should be compensated for all land designations.

The INHFA last week called for all responsibilities for the management of designated Natura 2000 sites, which includes SACs and SPAs, to be moved to the Department of Agriculture.

Currently, these sites are primarily administered through the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (DCHG) with lesser roles for the Department of Agriculture and the county councils.

In a letter to all Oireachtas members, the INHFA claimed that differing policy objectives of the two departments left farmers with designated lands trying to serve "two masters".

"We are contacted on a daily basis by farmers angry and frustrated by the impact of these designations. These designations are a major burden that continue to undermine farming enterprises" the INHFA stated.

"This burden is exemplified through additional costs, the requirements to get permission in carrying out normal farming activities and the devaluation of land."

The INHFA claimed that the annual cost to landowners of a designation is €150/ha. With 13pc of country's land area designated, the association claimed that €130m/year should be paid to farmers with Natura 2000 designated land.

Mussel measures

Meanwhile, the ICMSA has questioned the wisdom of investing resources in attempting to reverse the population decline of fresh water pearl mussels in the Blackwater River catchment in north Cork.

"Dairy farmers will always endeavour to strike a balance between production and protecting the surrounding environment," said Maurice Walsh of North Cork ICMSA.

"But it is worth referencing the NPWS report published in 2011 in which it was clearly stated that even allocating significant resources, it was unlikely that it would be possible to restore an active population of fresh water pearl mussels in the Blackwater catchment.

"We can't see how the fundamentals have altered in the interim, and the truth is that where resources are scarce, it's probably better to direct funding to where it is most likely to deliver significant results."

Special Area of Conservation (SAC) land selling for less than €1,000/ac as measures rule farmers out of forestry and wind farm developments