Regulations that see baby formula classed in the same category as alcohol and tobacco have been branded 'absurd'.
Parents who buy baby formula will be well aware of the increasing costs of these products in recent years.
The Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope said a ban on using vouchers or loyalty cards to buy it is also not helpful to shoppers.
He told Moncrieff another glaring issue is the absence of generic or own-brand alternatives.
"A huge amount of the baby formula that's sold all over the world is made in this country," he said.
"We have seen a lot of products going up in price over recent years as a result of the cost of living crisis.
"Dairy products were particularly impacted because of much higher input costs at the start of the cost of living crisis with the higher cost of diesel and electricity.
"All of those things would have fed into the higher prices.
"But the reality is that we don't know exactly what's happening because there's a lack of transparency when it comes to the costs that are faced by these major suppliers and the prices that they then charge to supermarkets, who then charge consumers."
Baby formula market
Conor said baby formula is unique in that it is harder to shop around for lower prices.
"Some of your listeners will be bored to tears listening to me talking about the merits and value of shopping around," he said.
"That doesn't exist when it comes to infant formula.
"There was own-brand baby formulas in this country up until 2019, I think Aldi used to have an own-brand version and then they stopped selling it.
"I'm not entirely sure why they stopped selling it."
Conor said one of the reasons could be because two big companies, Nestlé and Danone, hold around 85% of the market share here.
"Baby formula is one of those unique products that people are always willing to pay a premium, because they want to do what they believe is the best for their child," he said.
"All the health authorities will say that breastfeeding is best and obviously you have to agree with that.
"But for a lot of parents they make the choice to feed their children with formula, and I'm not going to stand in judgement on anybody.
"The reality is the parents who are feeding their infant children formula want to do the best that they can.
"There are very few products that people are willing to pay much more for, and are not willing to skimp, and baby formula is one of those products".
'Tobacco and alcohol'
Conor said excluding baby formulas from loyalty points seems unfair.
"I'm not really sure why parents can't use Clubcard vouchers or Dunnes Stores vouchers, or why they can't get Clubcard points when they buy baby formula?" he said.
"It takes a bit of the financial sting out of the product.
"If you could say to a parent, 'You can use your voucher to buy this particular product', I don't see how that would be driving people away from breastfeeding.
"I don't see how that would be encouraging people to use formula."
Composite image shows a father feeding his baby boy with a bottle in July 2018, and baby milk products in a Tesco supermarket in December 2014. Picture by: Mariusz Szczawinski / Dave Cameron / Alamy Stock PhotoConor said the classification of the product is something that 'bugs' him.
"Baby formula is lumped in with the likes of tobacco and alcohol when it comes to restrictions on the use of vouchers and Clubcard points," he said.
"To put baby formula in the same category as tobacco is just absurd by any measure," he added.
Conor said he does not believe the State "should be standing in judgement" of parents who decide to use baby formula by imposing these restrictions.
In 2021, the HSE estimated that 59% of babies in Ireland were being breastfed.
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