Ireland's shift to becoming a net contributor to the EU's budget should be seen as a mark of our success as an economy, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
In a speech on the future of Europe to a conference in Dublin, Mr Ahern said that at no time since the foundation of the State has Ireland been "more successful, more confident and more optimistic".
He said: "Our EU membership has played a vital role in this transformation. We must not take this for granted".
The one-day seminar in the Croke Park Conference Centre was organised by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice.
Mr Ahern said the upcoming debate on the proposed EU constitution should focus on Ireland's changing relationship with the union.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
"Over the past decade, both Ireland and the Union have dramatically changed. For much of our membership, per capita income in the majority of member states was significantly in excess of ours," he told delegates.
"During that period, Ireland has benefited greatly from structural and cohesion funds." But Mr Ahern warned: "We are gradually approaching a time when we will pay into the EU budget more than we receive back".
The Taoiseach said there was a need to promote greater public understanding of the reasons why our EU membership "is of fundamental importance to our national prosperity even when we no longer benefit greatly from direct EU financial transfers".
He admitted there were many people across the EU who remain disenchanted with the project and who saw the EU as remote from their daily concerns.
There are also those who are increasingly exasperated by over-regulation and who have questions about the accountability of the institutions of the union, he said.
"We can now expect to hear much from those who rejoice over the setbacks in the EU. . . . We must soundly reject the voices of those who want us to return to the past," Mr Ahern said.
