Fruit company Keelings says it 'fully understands' people's concerns, after it brought seasonal workers to Ireland from Bulgaria.
It follows an online backlash against the move by the company.
The firm also says its communication to the public "should have been both faster and more detailed during this COVID crisis."
It says the 189 workers arrived on a chartered Ryanair flight from Bulgaria on Monday.
Keelings says without these seasonal workers it would "be impossible to bring fresh Irish strawberries to the Irish market."
In a statement today it says it acknowledged the concerns of people and "fully understand the reasons for these concerns."
It says: "Up until the late 1990’s, we recruited most of our seasonal workers locally, but over the last 20 years there has been less interest from Irish people in this work.
"For the past 20 years, most of our seasonal work has been done by experienced horticultural workers from other EU countries, often from Poland, Latvia and now from Bulgaria.
"They typically come to Ireland for six months."
Keelings says it finds accommodation for its seasonal workers, and provides bus transport to its farm each working day.
"We want to assure the public that we are following the HSE and HPSC guidelines as they continue to evolve."
Meanwhile, An Garda Síochána says it received a number of calls about a group of foreign nationals who've recently entered this country to work.
The force said it investigated and found no breaches of COVID regulations.
