A complainant to the Ombudsman's office maintained that on July 31st, 2003, he attempted to lodge an objection to a planning application with Galway County Council - it being the closing date for receipt of such submissions on the issue.
However, the Galway races were on at the time, and the council's offices were operating restricted opening hours.
Ms O'Reilly said yesterday that such restrictions on opening times were a race-week tradition in Galway to allow staff to attend.
However, she said, the partial closure of the office meant that the man missed the statutory deadline for objecting to the planning application and also his right to take the case to An Board Pleanála.
"The core issue in this case was that the introduction of the five-week deadline, under the 2001 Planning and Development Regulations, presented the council with a difficulty which it did not have to deal with under previous regulations. It appears that the council did not foresee this difficulty or make alternative arrangements during race week to cater for receipt of time-critical planning documentation," the report states.
The council subsequently agreed to accept submissions placed in its letter box during race-week closures. It also made a €200 goodwill payment to the complainant.