Five companies have been fined a total of €3m by government inspectors for illegally employing Romanian nationals on two shipbuilding projects.

The companies, which have not been named, include two Swiss firms which had commissioned the ships at virtually the same time. The others were contractors and sub-contractors brought in to do the work.

The case dates back to 2013 when social affairs ministry inspectors found 66 Romanians working on the ships without proper work permits. The Dutch borders were only opened to Romanian nationals at the beginning of this year.

The ministry’s inspectors will continue to pay special attention to the shipbuilding and ship repair sectors this year, the statement said.