IMF has approved its €22.5 billion bailout for Ireland.

From RTE: 

The board of the International Monetary Fund, meeting in Washington, has approved its €22.5 billion contribution to the EU/IMF financial package for Ireland. The decision had been postponed from last week to allow for a Dáil vote on the issue.

Yesterday, the Dáil approved the memorandum of understanding by 81 votes to 75.

During the debate, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said it mystified him why any party would vote against the deal and said it was laughable to suggest that we could get a better deal from the IMF.

But the Fine Gael and Labour leaders both voted against the package and said they would seek to have it re-negotiated.

Speaking on RTE's Six-One News tonight, the head of IMF's mission to Ireland Ajai Chopra said the IMF would be monitoring Irish Government policies to ensure that certain targets were met.

But he said the IMF could not be 'completely rigid' and that policies could be adapted as long as they were consistent with the overall targets of the plan.

Asked about the effect of a change of government, Mr Chopra said different parties would have different priorities and there was always room for discussion.

He would not speculate on any possible discussions between the EU and any Irish Government on the interest rates charged for the emergency funding.