The protocol to the safeguards agreement was signed up to by the 13 non-nuclear weapons states of EURATOM in 1998. It aims to strengthen the effectiveness of the existing safeguards regime by bringing specified equipment and material within the scope of the safeguards agreement. The protocol relates to equipment and material which are ostensibly for the peaceful production of nuclear energy, but which could be used by rogue states, for example, to produce nuclear weapons. The ratification of the protocol is in line with Ireland's long-standing position in respect of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.