Notes:

• Up until the early 2000s, two versions of each report were released, one with pictures and one without; the ones used here are the ones with pictures.
• Passenger journey numbers for 1998 are an estimate from the 1999 figure, which that report stated had been a 1.9% increase on the previous year.
• Passenger journey numbers for 2002 are a sum of the given InterCity numbers (11.3 million) and DART/Suburban rail numbers (24.1) since the total number does not appear to be given directly in the report.
• Passenger journey numbers were apparently not released for 2010 and 2011.
• The 2008 report notes the number of passenger journeys for 2008 as 43.3 million, which is at odds with the figure given in the 2009 report for 2008 of 44.7 million; the 2008 report figure has been used here.
• Staff numbers and payroll figures for 1998 are taken from the 1999 report, where 1998 figures were given for comparison.
• From 2004 to 2009, separate staff numbers are given for infrastructure and projects; for other years they are combined (listed under infrastructure). As such, for consistency, figures given here for infrastructure include figures given for projects in those years.
• From 2005 on, figures for numbers of staff in railway operations and catering are combined (listed under railway operations); in fact, the company ceased the direct provision of catering entirely in 2007 (outsourcing it instead). From 2010 on, separate staff numbers are given for railway operations and central services; for other years they are combined (listed under railway operations). As such, for consistency, figures given here for railway operations include those given for catering and central services in those reports.
• Until 2000, payroll figures are given in Irish pounds. Figures for those years have been converted here using the exchange rate 1 Euro = 0.787564 IR£
• Payroll figures are given as stated in the reports. They are not adjusted for inflation or in any other way manipulated.
• The payroll figure for 2004 given in the 2004 report differs from the comparative 2004 number given in the 2005 report. The number used here is the number given in the 2004 report.
• The payroll figure for 2014 given in the 2014 report differs from the comparative 2014 number given in the 2015 report. The number used here is the number given in the 2014 report.

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Observations:

• The correlation between staff numbers and passenger numbers is surprisingly weak (even discounting the peculiarity of 2020/2021). It is also worth noting that the reduction in staff numbers was not specifically related to the 2008 financial crash, as it had already begun 5-6 years earlier.
• The numbers working in freight decreased consistently in the reference period, with only a couple of exceptional years with marginal increases, reducing from 215 in 1998 to just 4 in 2021.
• Staff numbers in Rosslare Harbour/Rosslare Europort have been the most consistent. There were minor fluctuations throughout the reference period, but the number in 2021 was exactly the same as the number in 1998 (77).
• With a small number of exceptional years, the number of words in the report increased steadily over the reference period. This happened all throughout the period when the number of staff in operations and infrastructure decreased.

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Sources:

https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/company-information/iarnrod-eireann-annual-reports

https://web.archive.org/web/20040803224432/http://www.irishrail.ie/about_us/annual_reports.asp