PriceWatch: Alice Last, from Dublin, writes to highlight the high cost of creche fees in the capital when compared with the rest of the State. She also expresses a more general concern about the absence of tax relief for parents who send their children to such facilities.

Last says she pays more than €900 a month for one child, a cost which does not include nappies and formula. Once you leave Dublin, she says, the price of creche facilities falls dramatically. One friend, she says, pays less than €450 for a creche in Co Westmeath. PriceWatch contacted a number of creches around the country this week and found that fees outside Dublin tend to be significantly cheaper and rarely rise above €600.

Last also bemoans the lack of tax breaks for parents of young children.

"A friend of mine who lives in Holland tells me that creche fees there are around the €900 mark also, but there is tax relief - something that parents aren't given here," she says. "I guess my gripe is really with the lack of tax relief as the creches have many costs to cover - but I can't help feeling that there is a massive gap between what people pay outside of the Dublin area and those of us within Dublin."

What's more ...

Last month Caren Daly, from Offaly, booked flights online with two different low-cost carriers and was alarmed by the high price both charged her for using her credit card.

Firstly, she booked a couple of flights to Stansted with Ryanair. While she was pleased with the price of the tickets, she was less happy with the credit-card charges.

"The total, which included airport taxes, came to €76.84, all very reasonable," she says. "But when I went ahead with the transaction, an extra €10 in credit-card fees was added on."

Ryanair does indeed charge €2.50 per person per sector on credit-card transactions and makes no apologies for doing so. When PriceWatch contacted the airline in connection with these charges, following a query from another reader last year, a spokeswoman defended the fairly hefty add-on by pointing out that as Ryanair's average fare was €39, its charges for handling credit cards looked relatively high.

But it's not just Ryanair that charges so much. Daly also booked two flights with rival low-cost carrier EasyJet, to Spain, and was hit with another credit-card fee of €6.50.

"So for booking with two airlines who heavily advertise their online services, I was charged an extra €16.50 for the privilege," she says.

Value4Money Paintbrushes

Fit for the Job 2" €3.50

Highs: At just €3.50 this is the cheapest - and the lightest - brush tried and is probably best viewed as the perfect disposable model for the worst of paint jobs. This is ideal for nasty varnishing tasks that will almost kill any brush, no matter how pricey or well-made.

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Verdict: Fit for some jobs.

Star rating: ***

Purdy 2" XL Swan €22.25

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Verdict: Good but costly.

Star rating:***

All Pro Silver Latex 2" 10

Highs: This is an excellent brush, neither too dear nor too throwaway. Its polyester bristles facilitate clean and even brushstrokes and the reliability of the head makes cutting in, if not quite a dream, at least less of a nightmare than it normally is.

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Verdict: The best of the bunch.

Star rating:*****

Dosco V21 2" 4.85

Highs: This is probably the most widely available brush and will be recognised even by DIY dilettantes. It is lightweight, cheap and Irish-made. It has an almost heroic amount of bristles and is perhaps ideally suited to less delicate painting operations.

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Verdict: Easy to buy, harder to use.

Star rating:***