Are you directly controlling the receiver with the remote, or are you using an IR distribution system to control hidden receivers.
If it's the latter, make sure you get IR receivers that are designed for a flourescent environment. If it's the former, you may be out of luck, just make sure the batteries are good, that might help.
Finally, you could always use something like this to convert the IR to RF and back again.
[Link: smarthome.com]