With Christmas on the way, art is a good option not only as an investment but as a thoughtful, lasting gift. You'll be doing your bit for poor struggling artists, and in the current climate, you might just pick up a bargain. And, of course, you don't have to splash out thousands of euro on a major international name: prints, photographs, work by young artists and small-scale pieces are affordable options – and you never know, they may increase in value over time.

Your first stop should be the RHA annual exhibition (to 13 December), which features hundreds of works by academicians, invited and emerging artists, with prices ranging from a few hundred euro all the way up into the tens of thousands.

Three of Temple Bar's landmark institutions are hosting enticing anniversary exhibitions. On show at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios is the 25th anniversary Winter Salon fundraiser (to 20 December), featuring works by 120 established and emerging artists at very reasonable prices. Worth considering are emerging artists Ann Quinn, Vanessa Donoso López, Lee Welch, Niamh McCann, Beth O'Halloran and Bea McMahon.

The Gallery of Photography, meanwhile, has come up with a novel idea to celebrate 30 years in existence. If you buy a ticket for €30, you'll be in with a chance of winning one of 50 photographs by the likes of Martin Parr, Paul Seawright and Anthony Haughey at a draw on 22 December.

For the Graphic Studio Gallery's 20th anniversary, it is hosting Little Christmas (to 22 January), in which 80 artists created a print in response to a text by writers such as Seamus Heaney, Anne Enright and William Trevor among others. Each work is 20cmx25cm, limited to an edition of 20 and costs €180 unframed.

Black Church Print Studio's Inhabit exhibition (to 17 January) at Draíocht in Blanchards-town is based on the theme of home and family – particularly suitable for Christmas. Artists include Caroline Byrne, Aoife Dwyer and Mary A Fitzgerald, and all works are less than €500.

For afford-able work by promising artists, it's worth visiting Treat (to 20 December) at the Talbot Gallery. Thirty artists are taking part, including ones-to-watch Claire Halpin, Anne Hendrick and Laura Fitzgerald, and all works cost €250.

Some of Ireland's most sought-after artists feature in Timbuktu (to 20 December) at Pallas Contemporary Projects, with pieces by Mark Garry, Gillian Lawler, Linda Quinlan and Clodagh Emoe. Not only are the works going for reasonable prices, but you'll be helping the gallery fund its 2009 programme.

And though Damien Hirst and Banksy are grabbing the headlines for the Christmas show at the Tramyard, many of the Dalkey gallery's regular exhibiting artists – who number Patrick Scott, Graham Knuttel, Felim Egan and Charlie Whisker among others – have specifically created new work in smaller sizes for this show, with prices starting from €150.

Around the country, Christmas shows by both the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon, Co Clare (to 23 December) and The Cat & The Moon Gallery in Sligo town (to 31 December) are good hunting grounds for imaginative gift-givers.

If you're looking for a top-end investment, Hillsboro Fine Art is the place to go, with its Christmas exhibition (to 22 December) featuring Alex Katz, Anthony Caro and others.

The Kerlin's Fifty Percent Solitude (to 10 January) showcases some of the gallery's most bankable artists, including Willie Doherty, Maureen Gallace and Sean Scully. While the prices may be on the extravagant side, the exhibition is based on the appropriately recessionary theme of "refined austerity".