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(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, where, at any time after the commencement of this Act, the rent of any premises to which this Act applies exceeds the standard rent by more than the amount permitted under this Act, the amount of such excess shall, despite any agreement or lease made before or after the commencement of this Act to the contrary, be irrecoverable from the lessee, and if it is paid by the lessee, shall be recoverable by him or her, or by persons claiming through him or her from the person to whom it was paid or his or her personal representative, and may, with prejudice to any other method of recovery, be deducted from any rent or money due or subsequently becoming due from the lessee. However, in the case of premises leased at the commencement of this Act under a tenancy agreement or lease made before the commencement of this Act, this subsection does not operate to render irrecoverable from the lessee or recoverable by the lessee or persons claiming through him or her, or deductible, any rent payable under the tenancy agreement or lease save and in so far as it is in excess of the rent which immediately prior to the commencement of this Act was permissible under the Rent Restriction Act, 1943.

(2) Any transfer to the lessee of any burden or liability which, in calculating the standard rent of any premises, is treated as borne by the lessor, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be treated as an alteration of rent, and where, as a result of such a transfer, the terms on which the premises are held are on the whole less favourable to the lessee, the rent is considered to be increased whether or not the sum periodically payable by way of rent is increased; and any increase of rent in respect of any transfer to the lessor of any burden or liability which, in calculating the standard rent of any premises, is treated as borne by the lessee where as a result of such transfer, the terms on which the premises are held are on the whole not less favourable to the lessee, is considered not to be an increase of rent for the purposes of this Act. However, for the purposes of this Act, the rent is not considered to be increased, where a liability for rates or taxes is transferred by the lessor to the lessee, if a corresponding reduction is made in the rent.

(3) If a lessor knowingly receives, or a lessee knowingly pays, any rent which is by this Act made irrecoverable, he or she commits an offence against this Act, and if a lessor is convicted of any such offence the Court in which the conviction is obtained may, without prejudice to any other right which the lessee may have to recover the rent overpaid, order the lessor to repay the same.