Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the measures that are being taken to address the delays in consular interviews in the Philippines for persons with work permits that have issued and are awaiting permission to enter Ireland to commence their work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48978/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government of Ireland opened a new Embassy in Manila, the Philippines, in October 2021. This was one of a suite of initiatives designed to deliver on the Government's Global Ireland initiative, which aims to double the scope and impact of Ireland's global footprint by 2025.

The opening of the Embassy in Manila seeks to expand Ireland’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region, while also representing a powerful, tangible acknowledgement of the deep and longstanding people-to-people contacts between Ireland and the Philippines.

Prior to the opening of the new mission, our Embassy in Singapore, with the support of our Honorary Consul in Manila, had responsibility for providing visa services in the Philippines. Over the past year, transitional arrangements have been put in place to manage the transfer of responsibility for the visa service from Singapore to Manila.

A further important development has been the launch of a dedicated administrative support service to assist the Embassy in Manila in the delivery of visa services. This is provided by VFS Global, a company which provides visa and technology services to governments and diplomatic missions worldwide.

VFS Global’s services, supporting the Embassy, became fully operational on 12 September 2022, and are expected to significantly enhance the customer experience of our visa services in the Philippines in the time ahead.

There has been a significant post-pandemic surge in visa applications across our mission network. High levels of demand for employment visas, in particular, are expected to continue, and the Philippines has been identified as a source of solutions to address human resource needs in Ireland in a number of vital sectors, including healthcare.

Ensuring a timely response to visa queries and applications is a high priority for our missions abroad. Customers are asked to take careful note of the estimated processing times advised by missions and to apply in good time, bearing in mind that a mission can only begin the processing of a visa application when all required documentation has been submitted in full and the fee paid.