The Garda were under political attack last night after a woman being questioned about a series of hoax telephone calls apparently attempted suicide hours after her release from custody.

Rose Rowley, a 33-year-old mother of seven, was recovering in Mullingar General Hospital yesterday after being found unconscious beside her car in a remote beauty spot on Friday. She has a history of mental illness.

Ten hours earlier, Rowley had been released by gardai in Mullingar after being questioned about five telephone calls which prompted a major hunt for a baby in disused flats in north Dublin.

The Labour Party's Justice spokesperson, Joe Costello, says the decision to release the suspect 'in the middle of the night' was highly questionable, given her obvious distressed mental state. 'It's just not good enough behaviour from the Garda. We clearly need guidelines so they know how to deal with people in a distressed mental state,' he said.

Green MEP Patricia McKenna said Rowley, whose history of mental health problems was known to gardai, should not have been released in the manner she was.

'Gardai obviously need more resources and training in dealing with people with mental illness. The outcome of what happened this weekend could have been a lot worse,' she said.

Rowley was reported to be comfortable yesterday after being moved out of an intensive care unit.

She had been arrested in the town last Thursday evening by gardai investigating a series of calls made this week - three to the Garda and two to the Samaritans - by a distressed caller claiming to be 13, who said she had abandoned a newly-born infant in Ballymun, Dublin.

After a three-day search, the calls were found to be hoax. Rowley was arrested and questioned for some hours. Gardai released her from custody at 3.50am on Friday and said a file would be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine whether criminal charges would be brought.

Her father reported her missing at 10am. She was discovered unconscious beside her car parked on the shores of Lough Ennel, by an off duty garda.

Yesterday Rowley's grandfather, Oliver Rowley, said he had suspected his granddaughter was behind the hoax calls. 'Rose's brother and sister committed suicide recently and she hasn't been well. I feel very sorry about everything that's happened.'