those outraged by probing questions on child sex abuse: "We apologise.'' But they fiercely defended the need for the survey, and vowed to press ahead with it.

Meanwhile, Shadow Health Minister Mr. Nelson Bascome yesterday added his voice to the storm of protest. He said the survey appeared to force parents to admit abusing their children.

"It could have been done in a far more sensitive way. This is a very sensitive subject,'' he added.

Mr. Bascome claimed results from the survey would be badly "skewed'', saying organisers should have consulted social service experts.

And he questioned the links between child sex abuse and drugs.

The survey has been distributed around local companies, businesses, and organisations, including the Fire Service.

Controversy has blown up over a section probing parents on their relationship with their children.

In it, they are asked to reveal whether they have had sex with their youngsters, or become aroused by fondling them.

People are required to tick one of four boxes indicating frequency of abuse.

But there is no box for those who have never molested their children.

One woman from a local law firm told The Royal Gazette of her disgust at the survey, criticising the presentation.

"I thought it was absolutely outrageous. The whole of my floor acted in the same way. We just threw the copies in the trash,'' she said.

The woman said the survey assumed all parents were child molesters.

Yesterday the National Drug Strategy team stressed their survey was confidential, voluntary, and not focused solely on child abuse.

It tackled a number of drug issues, and was designed to assess community needs before programmes were put into place.

In a statement the strategy team said: "We apologise for the fact that some of the questions are intrusive.

"It is recognised and acknowledged that there are questions in the survey which may be upsetting or offensive but the survey is being conducted in the best interests of the community and its needs.'' It added the survey was aimed at uncovering underlying factors behind substance abuse.

"The format is carefully designed to allow the use of statistical analysis that may allow us to predict emerging trends in the factors identified in the survey.'' It said the survey's format had been carefully thought out, with a pilot scheme conducted beforehand.

"The way the questions are formulated and the nature of the responses are of a type which have been used extensively throughout the world.

"Most importantly, the survey is specifically designed to be culturally fair and has been used in over 100 countries.'' The committee stress people are not compelled to answer questions which make them uncomfortable.

"If a respondent chooses not to answer, the lack of a response is interpreted as missing data and no assumptions or conclusions are made based upon such a response.

"We apologise, again, to any persons who may have been upset or offended by the content of the survey and we hope that they will understand the need for it.''