Garda Headquarters has begun to remove equipment made by the Chinese tech giant Huawei from laptop computers being used by senior officers to log into the force’s IT databases and intelligence networks.

It is removing 200 Huawei dongles — a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on a laptop to give it additional functionality.

Garda Headquarters is replacing the devices with laptops that do not contain Huawei technology, according to security sources.

Senior gardai believe there is a need for the force to improve its cyber-security procedures. There is particular concern over the activities of Chinese and Russian intelligence services. China and Russia are suspected of being involved in the theft of intellectual property and of collecting intelligence on Irish policies