Dublin, Ireland ? The Irish government will appoint a lawyer to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clerics in southeast Ireland, the health minister announced Thursday after meeting more than a dozen men and women who reported being abused as children.

Micheal Martin made his announcement after discussing plans with sex-abuse victims for a full state inquiry into the unfolding scandals in the Catholic church. The Cabinet member said George Birmingham, one of Ireland’s top lawyers, would have three months to present his findings.

Activists representing sex-abuse victims, including those allegedly abused by the Rev. Sean Fortune, said they were pleased.

Fortune committed suicide in 1999 shortly before he was supposed to stand trial on 66 criminal counts of molesting and raping boys over nearly two decades. His was one of several such cases to emerge in Ireland.