While some remain pessimistic and predict more falls, others see buying opportunities. Big firms such as AIB and CRH have seen their shares drop close to 52-week lows. The question that must be asked is whether the selling is overdone.

But if you want to get in on the action while many of the brokers are on holidays, and before a traditional rise in markets in the autumn, what kind of fees would you be expected to pay?

Unfortunately, like many things in this country, buying shares is stubbornly expensive. Why are Irish stockbrokers so costly? The simple answer is an apparent lack of competition. You would think that with the increased investment in the Irish market brokers might start to reduce their fees but they are not doing so.

Compared to their international peers, Irish stockbrokers charge exorbitant fees to invest modest amounts of money in Irish, British and international markets.

The most recent cost survey of the financial regulator covering nine stockbrokers in Ireland makes for worrying reading for anyone thinking of investing in shares. To invest in the Irish market, charges range from 75 for purchases with Davy online to as high as 175 for the same transaction with Bloxham.

Taken as a percentage of the initial investment, this means an investor is immediately down between .75% and 1.75% just to buy the shares.

These charges represent what would be incurred on an execution-only basis . . . that is, without advice . . . when buying 10,000. The figures do not include miscellaneous fees such as account maintenance charges.

Obviously for the investment even to begin to be in the black, the shares would have to rise by those amounts before the client even starts to see a profit on their investment. Exit fees and commissions must also be considered.

If our investor decides to invest instead in the US market the costs rise even more.

Investing the same 10,000 in US equities can incur charges of between 99.84 with Fexco and 210 with NCB. No stamp duty applies on US purchases but most brokers charge extra fees for the facility to buy US stocks.

Again these fees apply just to the purchase: clients face more charges when selling their shares.

Of course if the investment amount is a more SSIA-style size, the charges increase in tandem. Investing 35,000 in US equities will attracted purchase charges of anywhere between 187.34 with Fexco and an exorbitant 545 with Goodbody.

As with most consumer issues a little shopping around will pay dividends. The technology of share buying has advanced significantly in the past 10 years or so. The internet is obviously the biggest factor, allowing individual investors to use trading platforms that would have been the envy of Wall Street as recently as the 1980s. An array of websites also offer investment advice, company profiles and statistics, and live price information.

Unfortunately most of the trading platforms offered by Irish brokers are poor. The most basic facilities usually amount to simply purchasing or selling a given share yourself, as opposed to asking a broker to do so for you. This is not so with many international broker websites.

And as might be expected, the fees charged by many online brokers in other jurisdictions are drastically lower for executing the same 10,000 transaction.

There are a few options available to investors wishing to avail of cheaper broker charges. Broker competition is far healthier in Britain, where share purchases, subject to 0.5% stamp duty on the UK market, can go for as little as �7 ( 10) per transaction. Other brokers operating in Europe include TD Ameritrade (trading as Internaxx in Luxembourg), Options Xpress operating via Amsterdam or US-based Interactive Brokers.

For a greater range of investment options and more sophisticated trading strategies, there are other websites that offer facilities over and above straight share purchases.

Many Irish users of the forum askaboutmoney. com recommend Interactive Brokers (www. interactivebrokers. com), which recently floated on the stock market.

The firm was ranked the number one online broker and lowest-cost broker by Barron's this year and, in comparison to Irish brokers, its charges are extremely low.

Investing 10,000 in a US equity via Interactive Brokers would attract a commission as low as 3. That said, when assessing brokers charges it is important to take into account the whole package. With Interactive Brokers there is a 7 monthly inactivity fee if the client fails to spend more than 20 on fees in a given month. But even with this fee, the rates are significantly lower than any Irish broker.

Added to that are the facilities Interactive Brokers offers. For example it allows trading of equities in 11 countries, including seven European equity markets. Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Singapore, South Korea and Canada are also available. For the more advanced investor, the site also offers the ability to buy options, futures, foreign-exchange trading (forex) and bonds. They also pay varying interest rates on deposits.

If you are not a regular investor it might be better to search for a broker who doesn't charge inactivity or account maintenance fees but where charges are still low.

Options Xpress (www. optionsxpress. eu) specialises in options trading but also deals in bonds and stocks.

While it charges less to clients who deal regularly, its fees for occasional investors remain low. The standard charge for buying shares on US markets amounts to $16.95 ( 12.52), on purchase and then again on selling. At about 25 between the buying and selling of US equities . . . and with live market data, the ability to place limit and stop orders, or more complex trading strategies involving options such as protective puts or covered calls . . .

Options Xpress offers beginners or experts lots of flexibility at a low price in comparison to Irish brokers.

Other costs should be taken into consideration, however, when it comes to non-Irish brokers. The first is funding the account. Generally the most efficient method is a straight wire transfer, which will be to different countries depending on the broker. With Options Xpress, money is wired to a US bank account in US dollars and is usually added to your online account within five working days of initiating the transfer.

Of the Irish banks that offer online wire transfers, AIB has one of the better facilities . . . it allows non-EU international wires of up to 5,000 for a 15 fee. If the transfer is nonurgent and within the EU, there is no transfer fee up to a maximum of 5,000 per day.

Cheques may also be sent by post but some brokers will only accept US dollar cheques.

The other hurdle to overcome when opening a nonIrish broker account is the identity process. Any broker with operations in the EU will require you to verify your identity and will ask for original proofs of address and copies of official photo identities such as passports.

These are the same proofs required by Irish brokers.

While these two brokers offer very low prices for purchasing shares outside Ireland, neither specialises in purchasing Iseq-listed shares.

If you want to invest in Irish firms, many are listed on US exchanges via American Depository Receipts (ADRs).

Big players such as AIB, Anglo Irish, CRH, Elan and Ryanair are listed via this mechanism.

The only difference is that the shares are purchased in US dollars, which may expose you to currency fluctuations when you choose to cash in your investment. Many get around this by opening dollardenominated accounts in Ireland . . . and perhaps waiting for a more acceptable rate versus the euro.

Overall, while it takes a little longer to open a non-Irish stockbroking account, the savings to be made are more than worth the hassle. Since the fees per transaction are so low, it is possible to invest smaller amounts per company, as your initial percentage outlay is so low. Building a diversified portfolio through a range of small investments thanks to the small fees means you will be less exposed to risk in particular sectors and the powerful tools and information available online can help you to make better investment decisions.

Irish brokers, meanwhile, should take note from their international competitors and begin offering their clients a greater range of investment options and, more importantly, far cheaper access to investing in equities.