Socio-Economic Analysis of Attitude to Water Quality Measures

The 1991 Nitrates Directive is one of the earliest pieces of EU legislation aimed at controlling and improving water quality. The Directive aims to minimise surplus phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) losses from agriculture to the aquatic environment. Nutrients in fertilisers (principally nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) promote plant growth but application in excess of plant requirement can cause negative environmental externalities such as eutrophication. The Nitrates Directive requires each member state to introduce a programme of measures through a National Action Plan (NAP). However, these NAPs have not met with universal acceptance by farmers across the EU. None more so than is the Republic of Ireland where there was considerable political opposition. The Irish NAP was not transposed into legislation until 2006 through the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) regulations (S.I. No. 378 of 2006). Farmers in the Republic of Ireland have voiced opposition to operational elements of the GAP regulations. Farmer acceptance of the legitimacy of the measures is a key element of compliance. The efficacy of the NAP measures is being evaluated holistically by an Agricultural Catchments Programme through intensive bio-physical and socio-economic monitoring in six representative small scale river catchments dominated by moderate to high intensity grassland and arable enterprises across Ireland. This paper aims to investigate the attitude of farmer stakeholders towards implementation of the GAP regulations using Q methodology.