New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is one of nine Catholic prelates who have been assigned to investigate Irish priests’ handling of sexual-abuse cases, the Vatican said yesterday.

The panel will seek to improve the Irish church’s efforts to prevent sexual abuse. Although the scandal will be the prime aspect of the investigation, Dolan will focus on Irish seminaries and “all aspects of priestly formation,” the Vatican said.

Last month, a government-sponsored report detailed how priests and nuns abused tens of thousands of Irish children sexually, physically and emotionally over six decades.