We've Got Mail: Edward from Co Wexford was just one of several readers who was prompted to get in touch asking why Nu-Seal Aspirin is available only on prescription in this country. He normally takes one low-dosage aspirin daily as part of a "healthy heart" regimen. "This requires a doctor's visit (€45) for a six-month repeat prescription limited to 28 tablets per month at approximately €7.50," he writes.

However, he was doing a bit of grocery shopping in a supermarket while on holiday in the US recently when he noticed containers of low-dosage aspirin for sale. Each container held 150 tablets and had a price tag of $6.75 (€5.50). "I asked the store's manager if there was any limit to the number of bottles I could purchase. His answer was a terse, albeit polite: 'That depends on how much money you have in your wallet and how many cases I have in my stockroom'."

Last week, in addition to highlighting the high cost of low-dosage aspirin, we also mentioned Cicatrin antibiotic powder which another reader found selling in Greece for a fraction of its cost here.

We were subsequently contacted by a pharmacist who shed some light on the pricing of both drugs and offered a robust defence of his profession which, perhaps unfairly, bears the brunt of consumer anger when it comes to high prices.

Peter Kelly, a pharmacist from Killeshandra in Co Cavan, points out that both drugs our readers referred to are listed as Schedule 1B medicines in the Republic which means that neither may be legally supplied other than by a pharmacist on foot of a prescription written by a doctor. In the case of the aspirin, although it is a commonly used painkiller, Nu-Seal Aspirin is licensed for the prevention of events such as heart attack and stroke.

"As a preventative and therefore long-term medication, it carries certain risks and it has been deemed unsuitable for over-the-counter sale. Its formulation makes it unsuitable as a painkiller. Hence the doctor's fee and the dispensing fee for the prescription."

He goes on to point out that prices for medicines in Ireland are to a large extent set by the Government through the Health Service Executive in agreement with the manufacturers.

"It is the pharmacist in the front line who incurs the wrath of the disgruntled customer, most of whom don't question their GP about his or her fees. Shooting the messenger doesn't help. Asking the GP to prescribe less expensive generic versions of the same medicine does. Most pharmacists are only too willing to advise customers on this, but as a profession we are bound to dispense what the doctor has prescribed."

Convenience charges? That's just the ticket

Jane Buggle from Dublin went in search of tickets to see Michael Franti and Spearhead play at Tripod in Dublin at the beginning of December.

The advertised price was €29.50 per ticket. She contacted the venue to book tickets directly but was told by a member of staff that the tickets were available only via Ticketmaster, a company which has been no stranger to the PriceWatch page over recent years.

"The staff member told me that the advertised price includes a booking fee of €3. However, when I contacted Ticketmaster, I was told that I would have to pay an additional €3.70 per ticket, described as a convenience charge. She points out that this represents a booking surcharge of €6.70 per ticket.

Still, with no other outlet available she went ahead and booked the tickets. Days later they arrived in the post and were marked €29.50 "including booking fee.

"So in total, the five tickets - which should have cost €147.50 including booking fee - have cost me €166 with the additional Ticketmaster 'convenience charge'. These charges are excessive in the extreme. Yet another example of rip-off Ireland in action," she writes.

We contacted Ticketmaster to see what it had to say and it offered an unsurprisingly robust defence. We were told that as Tripod has no box office of its own, all tickets are sold through Ticketmaster.

"Normally, there would be a box office at the venue, a spokesman said. "In addition, Ticketmaster always provides a box office facility for every venue at the Ticketron outlet in the St Stephen's Green Centre where tickets can be bought at face value, in this case €29.50. The customer should have been told this by the venue."

"The ticket price of €29.50 does indeed include a "booking fee" - this is, in fact, a contractual arrangement between the promoter and Ticketmaster for selling the tickets and thus it would not be normal for a venue to give details of this to a customer," Ticketmaster said.

"The customer was charged a normal service charge of €3.70. This, as explained many times in the past, covers a variety of costs such as credit card charges, staff, postage, internet, telephones, technology etc."