If you need advice from the broker on the product, level of contribution, investment funds etc. then you have to pay for it. That's what the contribution charge goes towards.
If you don't need advice and complete the documentation yourself, then you can buy the PRSA on an 'execution only' basis with a 0% contribution charge and 1% AMC. Hopefully the levy will be gone in 2016.
Sometimes, if you set it up on your own, you have to get the permission of the employer to facilitate salary deduction as the PRSA provider may not be the one that the employer has signed up to. In my experience, they have no problem in doing this as they understand cost cutting.