The State spent €380 million on pharmacy fees for prescription drugs in 2014, according to figures seen by RTÉ's Prime Time.
Pharmacists receive a fee of between €3.50 and €5 for dispensing a drug to a medical card holder.
In 2014, 59 million drugs were dispensed under the scheme.
Asprin is the most frequently prescribed medicine in Ireland, with the State paying €3.3m to purchase it for patients in 2014.
However, a further €14m was spent to pharmacists for dispensing the drugs.
Atorvastatin, a cholesterol medication, was the second most prescribed drug, with a purchase cost of €11.3m in 2014.
A further €11m was spent on pharmacy fees - almost doubling the cost of its provision.
Professor Michael Barry, Director of the Irish Centre for Pharmaeconomics, said; "We need to look at all aspects of pharmaceutical expenditure and pharmacy fees are no different, these figures are one of the drivers in recommending that we look at pharmacy fees.
"You may decide at the end of it all the fees we are paying are totally appropriate, however when you have such discrepancies where you have a drug price that is a fraction of what the HSE is paying then yes - it is legitimate to look at this."
