Following consideration of a memorandum dated the 11th February, 1957,¹ submitted by the Minister for Finance, approval was given to the proposal that an approach should be made to the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the purpose of (a) ascertaining the probable attitude of those institutions to an application by Ireland for membership in the Fund and in the Bank and (b) establishing more precisely the nature and extent of the financial obligations involved.