Home affairs minister Alice Mak on Monday defended some district councillors who reportedly have not spoken during meetings for an entire year.

Citing minutes, the Ming Pao newspaper reported that six appointed or ex-officio councillors never said a word at full council sessions in their first year in office.

They're among 33 who reportedly didn't speak at around 80 percent of meetings.

Mak said councillors might have opted not to speak for the sake of efficiency.

"The councillors should definitely give their views on topics, but they don't want to repeat the same opinions," she told reporters after attending an event.

"This is not an efficient use of time – it'd be speaking for the sake of speaking, to hit a certain target in terms of numbers. That's definitely not what everyone wants to see."

Mak noted that she herself had been a district councillor for more than 25 years before joining the government, and members were always prepared about agenda items and knew when to give their thoughts.

She questioned if the public would want to see councillors give the same views hundreds of times, or better utilise their time by meeting with residents in the community.

The minister said the same idea applies at the legislature to avoid repetition.

She also said all district councillors met their performance targets.

Mak added that mobile street booths will soon be set up to further boost communication between residents and district councillors, and announcements will be made in due course.