The price of a pint could reach €10 in 'certain locations', but generally this won't be the case.
That's according to Tony Foley, emeritus associate professor of economics at DCU Business School.
He told Josh Crosbie for Newstalk Breakfast why different places charge such different rates.
"Basically people can get away with it - so it's the market situation.
"You're able to charge €6, 7 in some places and in other places it's €4/4.50.
"The other argument, of course, is the cost involved: that the cost of running a pub is different in different locations".
He said there can also be other factors at play.
"If suppliers have increased their prices by, say 5c a pint, what you will find is the publican won't increase it by 6 or 7c.
"They'll increase by some sort of multiple of that - 10 or 15c.
"And what they want to do is maintain their margins, but also keep the arithmetic sensible.
"You don't want to be charging €4.67 for a pint - it'll be €4.60 or €4.70."
Asked if we're moving towards a situation of paying as much as €10, he said: "In certain locations yes, as a general rule of thumb no - we're well away from that.
"The CSO estimates an average price for a pint of stout across the country - the latest figures were for June of this year - and the price is €5.13.
"So it's a long way to go to €10".
'We try and take the hit'
Eileen Creedon from Top Of Coom, Ireland's highest pub, said they are trying to keep prices down.
"Every month there's something going up, and it's adding to everything.
"We try and take the hit as much as possible - we obviously have increased prices a small bit.
"But we have tried to hold as much as we can".
The Top of Croom pub in Co Kerry. Picture by: Josh CrosbieShe gave a few examples: "We've kept the price of a pint of Heineken at €4.70, and Coors - and then a pint of Guinness is €4.50.
"So we try to balance it - especially at the weekends when you've a lot of people travelling".
While Richard Sherwood, who owns Sherwoods pub and restaurant in Farranfore, said: "My energy bills used to be in the region of €2,700, they're not about €3,400.
"We charge €5 for larger and €4 for Guinness: you can only hold so much, you have to pass so much on".
Josh also spoke to people buying drinks in Dublin's Temple Bar.
One man said: "I'm looking at an average of €6.20 to €6.50 a pint - that's Guinness.
"Down in Wexford where I'm from it's about €4.80 a pint".
One woman said: "I used to pay about €5 for a drink, and it's now gone up to about €7 or €8.
"So we've kind of stopped drinking in those kind of places that the price has gone up significantly."
And one man visiting from Northern Ireland noted: "I was charged I think it was €6.90 for a pint.
"Back home it'd be about £3.40 in the local rugby club, so it's pretty much double the price".
