Fruit growers want the government to allow foreign workers into Ireland to pick strawberries.
In County Wexford fruit producers say that they have only about fifty per cent of their labour requirement, because young Irish people do not want to pick berries,
Other work is less onerous and pays better.
Jimmy Kearns of the Wexford Fruit Growers Association believes the issue could be resolved if temporary work visas are issued to Russian fruit pickers, otherwise,
The processing industry in this country will dwindle completely.
A new variety of strawberry is being developed at present by Teagasc the national agriculture and food research body. Fruit growers will reap the rewards in the coming years, as Finnín MacNaeidhe explains,
It can produce very high yields for four years because it is so resistant to diseases.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 June 1999. The reporter is Joe O'Brien.
