PriceWatch: Michael Cregan from Limerick recently booked a golfing holiday for himself and his wife to Gran Canaria through the Limerick branch of Beacon Travel.

They have been travelling to the same resort for the past 20 years but this year he was alarmed by what he regarded as a dramatic increase in the cost of his biannual holiday.

In May of 2004 he travelled to the Sandy Golf complex on the island and paid €932 for two adults. He plans to return to the resort later this month and was charged €1,152 "for the same holiday on exactly the same basis as previous years".

"This is a disgraceful increase in charges," he says. "The local staff were not in a position to provide any detailed reasons for this, nor do I hold them responsible in any way."

When contacted, the tour operators, Falcon Holidays, explained that the reason for the increase is less to do with rip-offs and more to do with timing.

"He's not comparing like with like," a spokeswoman says. "If you compare the cost of a holiday to the resort on March 12th, 2004 with a holiday on the same date this year, then the increase is only €10 per person."

Early May, however, as it is the low point of the summer season, is substantially cheaper than this month given the high demand among Irish people anxious to escape the prolonged Irish winter and the relatively small number of flights into the islands at this time of year.

What's more . . .

Another PriceWatch reader has been in touch querying the cost of both doctors and tradespeople in Ireland when compared with our European counterparts.

"Being a regular visitor to France," he writes, "I sometimes have to go to see GPs and consultants. I cannot understand how they can live so comfortably bearing in mind what they charge compared to their Irish counterparts." He says that he pays between €20 and €25 for a visit to the GP and €30 to €35 for a consultant.

"Also I note the huge difference in the cost of tradesmen. I had work done to my house in Dublin over the past year and tradesmen cost me €70-€80 per hour before tax. In France they cost on average €45 per hour."

EN Fortune, a Dublin reader, was recently quoted a price of between €50 and €55 for cleaning a ladies Seiko quartz watch in a Rathfarnham jewellers. The final bill on collecting the watch was €66. "I felt that this was very expensive but the item was of sentimental value," she writes.