Urgent.. Non-eu daughter from Philippines join family visa

Hi I have a stamp 4 as a spouse of an irish national, we are trying to get a join family visa for her, she is 16y/o non-eu, from a previous relationship.

Issues:
1. Her visa application is already in the consulate but before they send it through, they are looking for a recent letter of consent from her biological father. I was never married to him and he signed this same consent in 2014. In the Philippine family code the mother has sole custody, I have always supported her he had nothing to do with her, his family changed her name on her birth cert without my consent when I moved to the UK in 2009, now he is refusing to sign another consent letter. Is there anything that can be done about this without having to provide the letter? I have explained this on the visa letter as well thinking at that time that the consent he signed validated by a solicitor would have been enough... like if he moved to a different country and I don't know where he is my daughter would be stuck in the Philippines?

2. I am a registered nurse here in Ireland,do they have to process this as a join family visa that usually takes 6 months or can they consider my employment as under the critical skills category?

I will appreciate any replies... I am thinking of just having my daughter write her own letter stating that she doesn't have any relationship with her biological father and just submit the visa application... I am going to ring the consulate when they open today to get more info. Thanks in advance.