Comment 3 for bug 123557

If the cause is indeed 1, then fixing this problem will likely be outside of the lirc init script. Alsa modules aren't loaded by /etc/init.d/alsa-utils, but rather mixers are just adjusted there. All module loading occurs via a hotplug mechanism.

You might consider creating a modprobe.conf that will start lirc right before the modules load. The problem with pushing such a configuration out to everyone, is that very few people opt to use the livedrive IR port / remote.