IRISH pension funds enjoyed modest growth during July, a more balanced performance than the 10.7% which separated the top and bottom funds for the first six months of 2010.

Pension funds, so badly hit in the downturn, have shown their fifth consecutive monthly improvement, according to Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services company.

A senior economics lecturer warned today that this country was facing a serious financial situation in the wake of the economic crisis in the US.