(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any provision of the Act of 1936 -

(a) the Bank shall not be precluded from granting an application by a foreign company for an assurance licence to carry on fire, accident or mechanically propelled vehicle insurance business by reason merely of the fact that the company did not carry on business in the State or had not a place of business in the State on a date specified in such provision if the Bank considers in any case that the grant of a licence to a foreign company will facilitate the grant of reciprocal advantages to an Irish company in the country under the law of which the foreign company is incorporated;

(b) the amount of the deposit to be made by a foreign company under section 22 of the Act of 1936 shall be equal to the deposit required to be made in that country by an Irish company, where that amount is greater than the deposit specified in such section.

(2) The Bank may attach to a licence to which this section applies such conditions as it thinks proper and may revoke the licence if it appears to it that any such condition is not being complied with.

(3) Section 16 of the Act of 1936 shall not apply in relation to an application for a licence to which this section applies.