Angelina Jolie has three, Sharon Stone and the Beckhams have two apiece.

We're not talking children here but the army of nannies employed to look after them. And while Jude Law, Madonna and Dolores O'Riordan have had some trouble with theirs, most of the world's jet setters still wouldn't be without that central character that lets them get on with the serious business of being stars.

Whether the offspring of celebrities, or your own, minding children full-time has long been considered the most important, if worst paid, job in the world.

But new developments in the UK show that, for once, the hand that rocks the cradle may also get to pocket the cash.

With the recent announcement that a Moscow-based family offered a British nanny a package worth €100,000 a year to entice her to come and look after their children, the nanny business may have been cast into a whole new career realm.

The deal, thought to have included generous travel expenses and pension plans, put the child carer's package on a par with that of a large company executive. And why not?

In families that regularly fork out the equivalent of €70,000 for a brand new SUV in the guise of keeping their kids safer, investing the same in the person charged with their very protection would seem at least as important.

Jenny Campbell, manager of Irish company Executive Nannies, known for positioning nannies with high-profile clients – think actors, rock stars and Ireland's business rich list – says it's not uncommon for some nannies to be earning such high incomes.

"Generally clients like that have huge requirements, especially in discretionary areas and are looking for nannies at the higher end of the scale," she says. "Those nannies would most definitely sign confidentiality agreements."

Such was the case when Madonna was recently reported to be having trouble securing a nanny for her youngest child David Banda. The problem, it seems, was not the considerable salary, but the stipulations.

No TV, as her children are not allowed watch, and no visitors.

But such nannies here can expect to earn between €700 and €1,000 a week, as well as having their own car, accommodation and travel expenses. Not that it's all endless perks.

"You're really not going to have a life of your own in that sort of position," says Campbell.

"Most of those clients would have more than one nanny and money is really no object."

Campbell says she recently placed an Irish nanny with a family in London who are also actively looking for another one.

The nanny will travel with the family to their homes in the Maldives, Thailand, Canada and elsewhere around the world.

For that, the recompense is €900 a week for five days 24-hour care, and €1,300-plus when she's travelling, which is most of the time, bringing her up to a pay scale close to €80,000. She'll also have her own penthouse apartment.

Those high-paying plum jobs are not as rare as you'd think.

"In any month we'd probably have three to five of those highend positions," says Campbell.

Extract from the Irish Independent, 26 Mar 2008. Article by Ann Dermody