In the last few days I have read most of the advice issued by the acknowledged 'key institutional players'; in addition, I have talked to some of those individuals who are also known as 'key players' in the arts in Northern Ireland.

I have to say, I am rather overwhelmed by the unusually sophisticated grasp of mathematics that my brief investigation has uncovered; overwhelmed, as I do not for one moment doubt that these institutions and individuals have done their sums, and that the arts have a significant and measurable part to play in supporting, among other things, tourism, the growth of cross-cultural understanding and the fostering of diversity and social cohesion our image abroad, employment, and the local and regional economies.

On the other hand I am rather underwhelmed by the scope of the argument as it is currently being set out.

The problem is, the form of evidence being marshalled appears to be premised on a belief that everything can be counted and that the arts can be marshalled, like a kind of non-violent seventh cavalry, in order to support other forms of social endeavour. This seems to me to be a meagre and rather soul-less interpretation of the nature, and of the core values, of the arts.

Yes, we do live in hard times: on December 10, last year, this newspaper reported on a protest on arts funding cuts held at Stormont. The next day the same newspaper carried an editorial highlighting a projected shortfall in the funding of the fire service and referring to similar pressures on other public services.

Those who do such sums say that the fire service here spends a fifth less per head of population than Britain. It worries me that this is the same argument - only the players are different! - that points out that public support for the arts amounts to £6.13 in NI compared to £11.93 in Scotland.

I should like to see the very unique values that the arts rest upon being articulated with more force and more passion. There is surely a very important challenge that ought to be put to our politicians; in facing 21st century social, economic and technological change, opening up vast prospects and equally vast challenges, our assembly members have a duty to pay particular attention to fostering imagination, creativity and innovation - the qualities that lie at the heart of arts production and appreciation.

The arts are too important to be justified as mere commodities. They form a great record of human dreams, aspirations, and disinterested endeavour. But underpinning that is the human ability to engage in creative endeavour. This is where we must focus our investment, for creativity and innovation is the well-spring of a healthy society and the distinguishing feature of the fully-engaged individual.

What I believe we should be calling for is the establishment of a holistic cultural approach, embedded in the programme for government and giving expression to a potent and effective government strategy that sets out to support creative endeavour.

This should be based on a policy that recognises the power of each of us to utilise our strengths for fluid and flexible and imaginative and innovative thinking, and for applying creativity in our collective life here; that policy should in turn be informed by the clear articulation of a value system that acknowledges the tremendous potential that this community possesses; a potential that is only partially realised and encouraged.

I have no difficulty with evidence-based decision making - however, the approach being taken forms only one segment in what is a much wider debate about the nature of civilised society.

Where the danger lies for committed individuals and ultimately for the wider professional and amateur creative community, but most of all for the health of our wider community, is in allowing too few to set the agenda too narrowly. It is time to open up the debate - part of such a dialogue should be to challenge our assembly members to defend their underlying values and to move the argument forward by talking about a people-focused, vibrant cultural policy that encompasses the arts but takes on board the need to foster conditions that grow and esteem human imagination and creativity. Wordsworth had it more or less right:

The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in nature that is ours: We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Sam Burnside is a poet and founder of the Verbal Arts Centre. He is a former member of the NI Arts Council