Mr. Paul Lemass:

If the landlord tries to terminate the tenancy, the tenant can raise a dispute. In such a dispute, tenants can say they made a declaration to get protections and their landlord countered on the basis of hardship, but they can point to evidence that the landlord is not suffering hardship. The RTB can request data from the landlord in these circumstances. I direct the Deputy to the judgment of the RTB in one of the Tyrrelstown cases where it overruled an eviction because it was able to demonstrate that the landlord was still in receipt of rent and would not, therefore, be suffering hardship. We have consulted the RTB on these protections and they are intended precisely for situations like the Tyrrelstown case where the landlord was prevented from proceeding with the termination because it was demonstrated that the landlord had adequate income and was not suffering the hardship claimed in the declaration. That is on the record of the RTB as a judgment in the case of what is known as the Tyrrelstown amendment. We envisage a similar approach here. If a dispute is raised and the landlord claims hardship, he or she has to demonstrate that hardship. The bar is quite high for the landlord in that regard.