Kildare Senator calls for review of legislation on underage drivers
20.02.2026. Photo shows: Jake, Ella Mother of Molly Dempsey, Mary Dempsey and Katlyn Morris after attending the sentencing hearing at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court of the accused who cannot be named for legal reasons as he was a minor at the time of the offence, who was given a 2 year suspended sentence. Photo: Collins Courts/CC
SENATOR Aubrey McCarthy has called on the justice minister to review current legislation around the sentencing of unlicensed underage drivers following the case of Molly Dempsey (15) from Baltinglass.
Molly was killed in a car crash in May 2024, in which the driver had no licence or insurance.
The driver, who was a minor at the time of the offence, received a two-year suspended sentence and a ten-year disqualification at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court earlier this year.
Speaking in the Seanad, where Molly’s mother Mary and her aunts Yvonne and Theresa were present, senator McCarthy said, while he was not criticising any judge or undermining the courts, there was a responsibility among members of the upper house to “ask questions when something does not sit right with the public and when families feel that justice has not been served”.
“This tragedy raises huge questions about how the justice system responds to dangerous driving by minors and the sentencing frameworks, as well as the supports available to the likes of the Dempsey family,” he said.
Senator McCarthy called on the minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan to come before the Seanad to see if any reforms to current legislation were necessary to “ensure that no family endures what the Dempsey family have endured”.
Following the sentencing in February, Molly’s mother Mary told reporters that the justice system in Ireland was “disgusting” and “disgraceful”.
“He can walk where he likes, do what he likes. I walk to a grave every day,” Mary Dempsey said at the time.
