The Government has sought advice from the National Cyber Security Centre on whether the use of TikTok should continue to be allowed on work phones used by the public sector, the Taoiseach has said.

Leo Varadkar said there was not yet any change to the Government's position on the issue and it was not telling officials to stop using the Chinese-owned app.

His comments come after the UK government moved to ban TikTok from work phones used by ministers and officials.

It said that devices would only be able to access third party apps from a pre-approved list.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Mr Varadkar said: "We have requested advice from the national centre for cyber security on TikTok.

"As things stand, we're not advising anybody in the public sector or in Government to remove TikTok from their work phone but that is still under review."

The UK government's ban does not include personal devices and there will be limited exemptions where TikTok is required on government devices for operational reasons, Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said.

It is being imposed over risks around how sensitive information can be accessed by the social media app.

The UK government had been under pressure from senior MPs to follow the US and EU in banning TikTok from government devices.

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TikTok, owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, has insisted the bans are based on "fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics".

Separate concerns have recently been raised about the CCTV system in operation at Leinster House, which is made by a company linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

A human rights group highlighted qualms about the use of the surveillance cameras inside and outside the Houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin.

Mr Varadkar, who is visiting Washington DC as part of St Patrick's events, insisted that was an issue for the Oireachtas authorities, not the Government.

"But, you know, those cameras have been in operation for a very long time around Leinster House and other places and I haven't been made aware of any substantive concerns in relation to them," he added.